A PokéSeries #9: 'War of Wars' Mini Series
by Cyllya
Summary: Again, PART not chapter. I made the mini-parts the chapters, although they have chapters of their own. This is what you've been bearing with me through 8 horible parts for! This has tons of nifty stuff like space-travel, talking Pokemon, more of my made-u
1. Prologue and Part 1

A/N: Part #9 of 'A PokéSeries' is a sort of mini series with individual mini-parts. I'll warn you now, Part 9 as a whole going to be looooooooo(insert several thousand more 'o's for dramatic effect)oooooong. However, it will include such incredibly odd things like:  
-Talking Pikachus and Raichus  
-Mews(so cute) and Mewtwo  
-Aliens a space travel ( ^_^; )  
-Six or more human TR members(excluding Giovanni)  
-Pokémon training Pokémon  
-Made up Pokémon(I lost count of those Eevee evolutions) 

^^^^^^

A PokéSeries #9

War of Wars

by Cyllya

"Prologue: Spirit of the Forest"

and 

"Part 1:To be a Master"

Prologue

Guyana, South America… 

As soon as the sun rose over the small lumber camp that was deep in the rain forest, everyone was awake and at work. This included the wild Pokémon. As a chain saw neared the edge of a very large tree, the tropical Pidgeys and their babies looked down at it nervously.

The chain saw started to cut into the bark. From somewhere in the dense foliage came a huge white beam. It hit the worker with the chain saw. He was knocked unconscious and clear into another tree. The Pidgeys smiled at where the beam had come from. They couldn't see through the leaves, but they knew who had saved their home…

Seeing its work done as the other workers scrambled over to assist their comrade, Mew, the legendary Pokémon, smiled. It flew down to the small lake that was next to the logging camp. A Goldeen looked up at it sadly.

"Mew?" Mew questioned.

"Goldeen…" Goldeen said. It looked sick.

"Mew…." Mew said. It put its paws on Goldeen's back and concentrated. It used its Recover attack to heal the poor fish.

"Goldeen, Goldeen!" Goldeen said happily. It waved at Mew with its fin and dived out of sight.

"Mew-mew…." Mew smiled again and took a few sips from the water. It picked a large, broad leaf off a nearby bush. It used the leaf to scoop up some water. It flew away with the leaf full of water and paid little attention to the pipe that spilled chemicals out of one of the logging camp's buildings. The chemicals splashed onto the shore and ran into the water. Mew did, however, pause to look in disgust at the cloud of dark smoke coming from the same building.

Mew flew toward a small cave in a nearby cliff side. It used its tail to snatch a large brightly-colored flower from a tree without slowing its flight. It paused by the cave entrance.

"Mew?" came a high voice from inside the cave. 

Mew flew inside and hovered before a second Mew. The other Mew had three very tiny Mews curled up next to it on their pile of leaves. Mew poured the water into a hollowed-out rock that was next to the other Mews. It gave the second Mew the flower.

"Mew-mew! Mew…" the second Mew took the flower and smiled. It lifted one of the baby Mews up to the water. It opened its eyes and started sipping the water. After drinking its fill, which was not very much, its mother lifted the other two, one at a time. When they were done, the two adults drank. Then the five of them curled up and took a nap.

Later, the Mews were awakened by the babies. They were crying. The mother's stomach rumbled. She squealed and put her paws on it. She looked like she'd been poisoned. Though not feeling so well itself, the first Mew tried to comfort the others. 

"MEW!" Mew vaguely remembered flying passed the chemical pipe. It also remembered that the Goldeen was sick. It looked at the water with hatred.

"Mew?" the other Mew asked.

"M-mew! Mew-mew-m-mew! Mew!" the first explained.

"Mew!" the second cried. It use picked up one of the squealing babies and used Recover. The first Mew did the same with another baby.

For a Pokémon that knows Recover, healing itself is easy. However, healing other Pokémon is hard and takes a lot of energy. Both adults had to combine the last few shreds of their energy to heal the third baby. It watched them writhe in a failing attempt to heal themselves.

They collapsed onto the ground, and the flower fell between them.

"Mew?" the third kitten questioned. It pushed at its mother's foot. She didn't answer…

Part I-

Pallet Town…

Chapter 1

"Mime, mime, mime, mime…" Mr. Mime hummed as he swept Ash's bedroom. Ponyta followed him around pointlessly. 

"Mr. Mime? Tracey has breakfast made. Can you wake Ash and Misty up?" Ash's mom called from another room.

"Mr. Mime!" Mr. Mime smiled and began to sweep Pikachu's face.

"Pika…pika!" Pikachu muttered, pawing vainly at the broom, "Pika-CHU!"

"Thank you, Mimie!" Mrs. Ketchem called, recognizing the sound of Pikachu's Thunder attack.

"Pikachu…" Ash muttered. He sat up, fried.

"We gotta destroy that broom…" Galacteon, who was also blackened, glared at Mr. Mime's broom as the others awoke.

"Pika," Pikachu agreed.

"Come get breakfast everyone!" Tracey called.

"Ooh, breakfast!" Galacteon ran into the kitchen. Ash, Misty, and Tracy quickly gave all their Pokémon a bowl full of Pokémon Food, some fruit, and some toast. Tracey's Pokémon were already eating Mr. Mime fed Ponyta.

"Hey, Ash. I bought you this magazine while I was at the store," Mrs. Ketchem said. She handed it to him as he sat down.

"Pokémon Times? Thanks, Mom!" Ash said. He read it while he ate. After flipping through the first few pages, he didn't look so happy.

"Pika Pika-pi?" Pikachu questioned, hopping onto the table.

"I was afraid of this," Ash muttered.

"What is it, Ash?" Misty asked.

"See for yourself," Ash handed her the magazine.

"'Like before, all participants of next year's Pokémon League competitions must have total of eight badges from _this_ year.'" Misty read aloud, "What does that mean?"

"It means that if Ash wants to go to the Pokémon League again," Tracey said, "he has to get his eight badges all over again too."

"Well don't think I'll be helping you this time," Misty said, handing the magazine back.

"You didn't help me last time!" Ash protested, rubbing his head, "You just followed me around, nagged at me, and hit me on the head a few times!"

"And look where you'd have been if I hadn't," Misty said, "If it weren't for Brock and me, you couldn't have found your way from one gym to the next."

"My head hurts just thinking about your method of helping," Ash said.

"Or maybe it's because you still have some of those bumps on your head," Galacteon offered.

"Could be," Ash said.

While Ash and Misty were arguing, Galacteon noticed that Pikachu looked sad.

"What's wrong, Pikachu," Galacteon asked, "It won't be that hard."

"Chu-chu," Pikachu mumbled, "Pika ka Pichu."

"Oh," Galacteon said, looking at Pika and the Pichus, "If Misty decides not to come with us, her Pokémon won't either…."

"Pika…" Pikachu said sadly.

Chapter 2

Back in Guyana, Jessie, James, and Meowth were cutting the already-chopped trees into plywood. The other Team Rocket members, Pyra, Flames, and Ninetails were a few feet away doing the same thing.

"Tell me again why we got this job," Meowth muttered.

"'Cause of how many times we've all screwed up," Ninetails said.

"How come Cassidie and Butch don't have to be here?" James muttered.

"They're suck-ups," Ninetails said simply.

"Oh," James said.

"Be glad that they aren't here," Pyra said.

"I know," Jessie agreed, "I hate Cassidie even more than I hate you."

"Look who's talking," Pyra said.

"Uh-oh," Meowth and Ninetails mumbled in unison. 

"You're a windbag," Jessie said.

"You're a show-off!" Pyra said.

"Idiot!"

"Nitwit!"

"Know-it-all!"

"Egotist!"

"Nincompoop!"

"Dolt!" 

"Hey, cut it out and get back to work!" James said.

"Dim-witted fool!" Jessie continued.

"Moronic blockhead!" Pyra said.

"Break it up!" James hollered.

"_Give_ it up," Flames advised, "They're mad now. We can't stop that."

"You ugly bonehead!" Pyra yelled.

"What?!" Jessie demanded, "You won't be calling anybody ugly by the time I'm done with you!"

James and Flames had to hold the two of them back to keep them from ripping each other to shreds. Meowth sighed and carried a piece of plywood to the pile it belonged in. On his way back to the logs that they were cutting, he accidentally stepped on one of Ninetails's tails.

"Ow! Watch it!" Ninetails exclaimed.

"Excuse me," Meowth said snidely, "You shouldn't be putting your tails in everyone's way, you stupid canine."

Ninetails growled.

"Oh, I'm so scared," Meowth mocked.

"You…" Ninetails fried Meowth with Flame Thrower. This started a fight between the two of them.

After a moment, everyone heard a loud hiss. They froze in their quarreling positions and looked to the door where the angry-looking Giovanni stood with Persian.

"Hello, sir…" Jessie stammered. Everyone snapped into attention stance. 

Giovanni sighed, "You can settle your arguments later. For now, I want Jessie, James, and Meowth to go scouting in the forest."

"Anything particular that we're looking for, sir?" Jessie asked.

"Not really," Giovanni said, "But keep an eye out for large trees, any Pokémon worth collecting, and anything that might lead to trouble."

"Yes, sir!" James said. He, Jessie, and Meowth ran out the door.

"You three get back to work," Giovanni said to Pyra, Flames, and Ninetails.

Chapter 3

Jessie, James, and Meowth walked along the narrow trail along the cliff side. Meowth spotted a small cave up ahead. They walked over to it.

"What's inside?" Jessie asked.

"A Pokémon!" Meowth said quietly, "I think they're sleeping."

"Mew?" one of the curious baby Mews crawled awkwardly over to Meowth.

"Eww! A rat!" Jessie exclaimed.

"That's not a rat," James said, picking it up.

"It's the baby version of one of those things," Meowth said. He pointed to the adult Mews.

"What kind of Pokémon is that?" James asked.

"I have no idea," Meowth said.

"But you always know things about Pokémon," James said.

"That means it's really rare!" Jessie said, "Let's catch them and present them to the boss!"

"Shh!" James said, "They'll be harder to catch if they're awake."

"Don't waste your time," Meowth said as he put his paw on the chest of one of the adults, "These two… are dead."

"Oh," Jessie sighed, "Oh, well."

"…Can you do me a favor, Jess?" Meowth asked.

"It depends. What do you need?" Jessie asked.

Meowth sniffled, "Can you have Arbok dig a hole in the corner over there?"

"Huh?" Jessie asked.

"I don't know why these Pokémon died, and I probably never will," Meowth said, "but it's clear they didn't die of old age. Being a Pokémon myself… I know that that's the only way a Pokémon should die."

"Now don't get all mushy, Meowth," Jessie said.

"Jessie," James said, "Arbok is a good digger. Have it dig a hole."

"Fine," Jessie threw Arbok's Pokéball. 

"Char-bock!"

"Arbok, dig a hole in the corner of the cave," Jessie ordered.

"Char!" Arbok tunneled in and out of the dirt until there was a neat, circular, three-by-three hole in the corner of the cave.

"Thanks," Meowth said. He laid the adult Mews in the hole and began to cover them with dirt.

"What about the three babies?" Jessie wondered.

"We could always give them to the boss," James suggested.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't take them with us," Meowth said, looking at them as they watched him bury their parents, "but do I have to remind you what happened last time we gave a baby Pokémon to the boss?"

Jessie and James thought about it. They remembered trying to give Togepi to Giovanni.

"What does it do?" had been Giovanni's reaction. At that time, Togepi's abilities didn't exceed weighing down papers.

"Meowth's right," James said, "The boss wants Pokémon, not paper weights."

"There are three of them," Meowth said, "If we each train one, we'll see how tough they turn out to be. Maybe they can evolve into something stronger like Togepi evolved into Togechikku."

"Mew?" the babies questioned.

"I guess," James said. He picked a Mew up. He asked, "What do we call them if we don't know their name?"

"Give them nicknames," Meowth advised as he patted the dirt down.

"Pinky," Jessie said blandly picking up a Mew.

"I'll name you 'Meow,' after me," Meowth said to his Mew.

"You're cute a kitten," James said to the Mew he was holding, "so you need a cute name. Something like… Kitsy?"

"Mew!" it said.

"So 'Kitsy' works for you?" James asked.

"M-mew…" Kitsy said.

James handed Kitsy an small version of an empty Pokéball. It sniffed at it curiously. James pushed the button on the ball. Kitsy was surprised when the ball suddenly got bigger than it was. James pushed the button again and Kitsy was sucked inside. The tiny feline didn't resist.

James offered Meowth a Pokéball for Meow. 

"Thanks," Meowth said, putting Meow inside the Pokéball. Jessie made Pinky officially caught. Meowth sighed. He picked up the now-limp flower and tossed it on the grave. He said, "Let's go."

"Arbok, return," Jessie said, calling Arbok back. As they left the cave, the flower looked less limp.

Chapter 4

Pika and Pikachu were chatting quietly to each other in the living room of Ash's house. Ash and Misty were in the kitchen arguing.

"You're always giving me a hard time," Ash said, "Why don't you give me a break for once?"

"If you want a break, go buy a Kit Kat bar!" Misty said, "You only got… four of your badges fairly."

"I got them all fair and square!" Ash exclaimed.

"Did not!" Misty said.

"Yeah I did!" Ash said, "You saw how Pikachu and I won the Thunder Badge."

"But Tracey only gave you the Boulder Badge because he felt sorry for you," Misty said.

"I beat Koga's Golbat with Charmander," Ash said.

"You didn't beat me in Cerulean City," Misty said, "My sisters gave you the badge because Pikachu beat Team Rocket."

"You're being a sore looser again!" Ash said, "Charizard beat Magmar."

"I didn't loose," Misty protested, "You got the Rainbow Badge by saving a Gloom."

"I didn't see you doing anything to help," Ash said, "And not many trainers can when a battle if they feel the same pain that their Pokémon do."

"You only got the Marsh Badge because Haunter made Sabrina laugh," Misty said.

"If I hadn't been a good trainer, Haunter would have stayed in Lavender Town," Ash insisted, "Making Sabrina laugh herself into a defeat was a great strategy! You said so yourself!"

"No, I didn't!" Misty said.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did—"

Tracy, who was sitting at the table, sneezed. A second or two later, Tracey did too.

"Bless you," Misty said, "Did not…or did too…or…."

Tracy laughed.

"What's so funny?!" Misty demanded. 

He continued laughing.

Ash shrugged.

"Now either you said I did something that I said I didn't do," Misty said to Ash, "or I said you did something that you said you didn't. Unless you said I didn't do something that I said I did."

"Huh?!" Ash demanded. Unseen by everyone, Jigglypuff hopped through the open window.

"I don't know; I'm so confused!" Misty cried. 

"We can tell," Tracy laughed. He sneezed again.

"You shouldn't be laughing at anyone!" Misty moaned, "You sketch in your sleep!"

"No I don't," Tracy said.

"Yeah, you do," Galacteon said, "Last night you really had your paper and pencil instead of using imaginary ones!"

"Really?" Tracy wondered, "I wonder if I really sketched something."

"Let's see," Galacteon said. He went down the hall and returned with Tracy's pad of paper. 

"Hmm…" Tracy said. He flipped through the pages with Galacteon and Jigglypuff looking over his shoulders.

"Mew?" Galacteon observed, "Not bad."

"Moltres," Tracy said at the next page.

"It doesn't look real," Jigglypuff said. Tracy looked at Jigglypuff suspiciously. He shook his head.

"Zapdos," Galacteon commented about the next page, "That one's pretty good."

"This one's Jigglypuff," Tracy said.

"I'm cuter in person," Jigglypuff said.

Tracy looked at Jigglypuff. He said, "I must be sicker than I thought." Jigglypuff shrugged. Tracy turned the page again.

"Woah," Galacteon commented, "I never pictured Officer Jenny like that."

Tracy quickly turned the page again, unveiling a sketch of Articuno.

"Now that's all wrong," Jigglypuff said.

"What'd you say?!" Tracy said. He hadn't found out Jigglypuff could talk yet.

"No offence," Jigglypuff said, "but his beak is supposed to be shorter than that. Plus you made his wings and crest too small. And in reality, his tail is way longer than that. Here, I'll show you."

Jigglypuff took the pad, turned to the next page, which was empty, and used her marker to draw a picture of Articuno. She colored it with her other markers. In her opinion, it was perfect.

"That's pretty good," Galacteon commended, "Where'd you learn to talk?"

"Being a human teaches you that sort of thing," Jigglypuff said.

"Cool," Ash said.

"Oh, that's good," Tracy said, "For a second there I thought I was hallucinating."

"Me too," Ash admitted. 

"Mmm-hmm," Jigglypuff said, "Sorry about my lack of performance today," she sniffled, "but it's allergy season and my throat hurts. You'll have to wait till next time."

"What a shame," Tracy said dully.

"I'm sorry you're not feeling well, Jigglypuff," Misty said, "Do you want something to drink?"

"No, thank you," Jigglypuff said. 

A pair of loud squawks filled the air.

"Besides," Jigglypuff said, "my ride is getting restless. Bye, nice seeing you." She tied her colored markers together with a string, jumped out the window, and landed on a Doduo that had a special double-head reins. Jigglypuff twirled her microphone in one hand, pointed it forward, and cried, "Puff!"

"Doe!" the Doduo squawked. It ran out of the front yard and down the street. Everyone sort of silently stared out the window in perplexity for a moment.

"You know," Misty commented, "it seems like all of the people and Pokémon we meet are kinda weird. Then they keep getting weirder."

"Pretty much," Ash said.

"Ash?" Mrs. Ketchem asked as she entered the room and opened the refrigerator. Ponyta snagged an apple and dashed into the living room.

"Yeah, Mom?" Ash asked.

"Since you're going to have to travel around and get your eight badges again," she said, taking out the orange juice, "I was wondering when you're going to be leaving."

"Uh, well," Ash stammered, "I'm not sure exactly, but it'll be soon."

"Okay, take your time," she poured a glass of orange juice and left.

Chapter 5 

"Purr-r-r-r-r…."

In Giovanni's underground headquarters in Viridian City, all three versions of Team Rocket waited semi-patiently at a long metal table for orders. They were in the underground HQ because the normal one was almost, but not quite, rebuilt from the time Jessie and James destroyed it as gym leaders. Persian circled Giovanni's chair and looked mockingly at Raticate, Ninetails, and Meowth.

"I have better things to do than watch you fail," Giovanni said as calmly as possible, "Even Cassidie and Butch, who are, for future reference, my favorites of you all, are imperfect."

Cassidie's haughty grin turned to a wince.

"So," Giovanni continued, "I thought that since you all seem to screw up for different reasons, that perhaps the six of you could come up with an plan together. Hopefully you will correct one another's flaws. Now stay here and think of something. I have something to look after."

"Yes, sir!" Butch said with fake giddiness. Giovanni and Persian left, along with everyone's artificial smiles. They all slumped. Flames moaned.

Sighing, Cassidie said, "You heard him; let's get started."

"How do you suppose we do that?" Flames asked.

Cassidie thought, "Why don't we discuss the common flaws of our plans so that we can work to fix them. Although it feels like a good time, and I can think of a lot of good ones, let's try not to confide by insults."

Everyone moaned.

Cassidie said, "Who would like to start?"

No one volunteered.

"Cassidie came up with the idea," Butch said, "So unless anybody has a better one, we shouldn't have to go first."

Again no one volunteered.

"So, Pyra, Flames?" Cassidie said, "What problems have you had lately?"

"Uh," Pyra stuttered. 

"Well…" Flames muttered.

"We kinda have this problem thinking of things to do," Pyra said.

"When we do get a good plan," Flames said, "we end up giving a lot of Pokémon to the boss."

"They're always really small and sickly though," Ninetails added.

"Mmm-hmm," Cassidie said thoughtfully, "Where do you get those Pokémon?"

"From the wild," Pyra said, "It seemed to be the only to keep police away from us."

"Makes sense," Meowth said.

"Wild Pokémon aren't as strong as trained ones," Butch said.

"Why would they be sickly?" James asked. 

"Good question," Cassidie said. To Pyra and Flames, she said, "Maybe you're over-injuring them. After you catch them take them to a Pokémon Center. If you think you might get caught if you went there, give them Potions and Antidotes."

"Try to catch Pokémon that are strong too," Jessie said.

"And it wouldn't hurt to train them just a little before giving them to the boss," Cassidie said.

"I guess you're right," Pyra said.

"Seems logical," Flames agreed; he looked to Jessie and James, "What problems do you two have?"

"The twerp," Jessie, James, and Meowth said in unison. 

"Elaborate, please," Flames said.

"It's always the same kid and his friends that screw up our plans," Meowth said.

"We've tried taking his Pokémon," Jessie said, "but those plans mess up even worse."

"His Pikachu is really tough," James said, "About a year ago, that Pikachu was strong enough to blow up Viridian City's Pokémon Center."

"And it keeps getting tougher," Meowth said.

"Does that Pikachu know the Thunder attack?" Butch asked.

"Hmm," Jessie thought, "Yeah, it does. Why?"

"Then it's over level 50," Butch said, "Anything with that much experience is worth getting."

"Is this the same twerp and company that wrecked our breeding center plan?" Cassidie asked, "and, with your help, our plan with Drowzee in the Orange Archipelago?"

"Yep," Meowth said.

"The same ones that kept us from getting rid of those stupid Vaporeon?" Flames asked.

"The same," James said.

"We'll have to do something about him, won't we?" Cassidie said.

"Revenge?" Meowth suggested.

"Oh, yeah," Cassidie said, smiling. She sighed, "I can taste the revenge by just thinking about him."

"You're lucky," Butch said, "When I think about him, I taste the prison food."

Cassidie's dorky grin vanished and was soon followed by an, "Eww! Gross!"

Chapter 6

"I don't think you're in much of a travelling condition," Mrs. Ketchem said to Tracey. They were in the kitchen. Tracy looked sick.

"Isn't it just—" Misty began, interrupted by Tracy's sneeze, "—allergies?"

"Probably," Mrs. Ketchem said.

"I feel like I've been trampled by a herd of Donfan," Tracy said, then sniffled.

"A herd of _what_?" Ash wondered. No one bothered to answer him.

"A Donfan?" Galacteon whispered to himself. 

"[I think Bulbasaur fought one of those…]" Pikachu murmured.

"[Did you win?]" Togechikku asked.

"[Donphan didn't stand a chance,]" Pikachu said.

"Pika…" Pika smiled.

"[Besides, Togechikku,]" Pikachu said, "[You were there as a Togepi.]"

"[Oh, yeah,]" Togechikku recalled.

"I think I'm gonna be leaving in a few days," Ash said, "Are you going with me?"

"I'm sorry, Ash," Tracey said, "I need to wait until allergy season is at least partly over before I can go anywhere?"

"Me too," Tracy said.

"Guess you'll be on your own then," Misty said to Ash.

"I have my Pokémon," Ash said.

"Hope they can read maps," Misty said. She turned her expression to thoughtful, "…and cook, and clean, and—"

"I'm not that helpless!" Ash protested. 

"Of course not!" Misty said sardonically. She snickered. Tracey sneezed.

"So what will you be doing while I'm out having fun?" Ash asked.

"I'll be back home where you can get me lost," Misty said.

"I've never gotten us lost," Ash said.

After a few seconds of silence, everyone but Ash and his mom burst out laughing. Ash frowned.

"The most memorable lost incident would have to be the snowy mountain," Misty explained.

"And we got out of that safe and sound," Ash said.

"Because we found Team Rocket's balloon," Misty said.

"We'll just see how things turn out!" Ash said.

"Alright then," Misty said smugly.

~~~

"Okay, here's everything I gave you last time!" Mrs. Ketchem said cheerfully. She and Ash were in his bedroom. She shoved some clothes, rubber gloves, a clothesline, some hot chocolate mix, a sleeping bag, a spare sleeping bag, and a few other things into Ash's arms. Ash put them as neatly as possible into his backpack.

"Thanks, Mom," Ash said, slightly exasperated. 

"Plus here's some mittens," Mrs. Ketchem continued, "and a wool hat, and some sunscreen, and sunglasses, and Chap Stick, and a three-hour calling card, and here's some change incase you want a soda or something, and are you feeling okay? If you think you might be getting sick come right back home, okay?"

"Uh-huh," Ash said.

A tear rolled down Mrs. Ketchem's cheek, "Oh, I can't believe you're leaving me again! Will you write this time?! Please?!"

"Uh, sure," Ash stuttered. Over at the end of Ash's bed were Pikachu, Pika, and the Pichus.

"Pi-Pikachu!" Pika cried and hugged Pikachu.

"Pika!" Pikachu said.

"Pichu!" cried the Pichus. They started a group hug among each other.

"Pichu, Pika-Pikachu Pika," Pika said to them.

"Chu!" the Pichus said, finally understanding. They hugged Pikachu.

"Pi, Pichu…" Pikachu sniffled.

"Here's our phone number and address back home, Pikachu," Misty said, giving him a piece of paper, "You'll write and call us, right?"

"Tog-yi?" Togechikku asked.

"Pika-chu," Pikachu said. He nodded and took the paper.

"Didn't you say you keep a journal?" Galacteon asked Pikachu.

"Pika!" Pikachu pulled a small, red spiral notebook off the bed.

"Everything from the time you met Ash is in that little notebook?" Galacteon asked in disbelief.

"Pika," Pikachu shook his head and pointed to the closet, "Chu, Pika-ka Chu."

Galacteon pulled the closet open with his tail, revealing ten little red notebooks neatly stacked in two piles in the corner.

"Pika?" Pika wondered.

"Pika-ka," Pikachu said.

"Hey, Ash," Misty said, "Since I want to make sure your Pokémon stay safe, I could loan you Psyduck. A Psychic-type might be useful."

"Are you doing me a favor, or just trying to get rid of Psyduck for a while?" Ash asked.

"If I want to get rid of Psyduck, I'd _give_ it to you," Misty said, "but I'm _loaning_ it to you. Do want to barrow Psyduck or not?"

Ash considered, "Sure. Thanks, Misty."

"Okay," Misty said, "I'll go find him."

As Misty rummaged through her backpack, Ash's mom asked, "Is there anything else you might need, Sweetie?"

Misty shoved Psyduck into Ash's arms.

"Psy?" Psyduck questioned.

"How about some aspirin?" Ash suggested.

Chapter 7

Outside the house, everyone was saying bye to Ash.

"Psyduck, you listen to Ash to your full capability," Misty said, "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Ash," Tracy said, "I'll try to find you later."

"Okay," Ash said, "Bye."

"Goodbye, Honey!" Ash's mom hugged him, "And don't forget to—"

"Mom!" Ash cried, "I know, I won't forget! You don't have to tell me! Really!"

"Uh, okay," Mrs. Ketchem said, "Good luck, and goodbye."

"Mime!" Mr. Mime hugged Ash. Ponyta neighed.

"See ya, everyone," Ash petted Ponyta, then waved as he started down the road.

~~~

When Pallet was out of site and they were surrounded by seemingly endless grass, Galacteon noticed that Ash kept looking over his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Galacteon asked.

"Nothing," Ash said, "It just seems so quiet without Misty following us."

"Ah," Galacteon said. 

Pikachu walked up next to Galacteon and whispered, "[He misses her.]"

"Yep," Galacteon agreed.

"What?" Ash asked.

"Oh, nothing," Galacteon said.

They trudged on for a few more hours, stopping only three times. As the sun started to set, Ash decided to stop for the night.

"Not a bad idea," Galacteon said, stopping to lean against one of the few tall trees nearby, "I'm getting kind of tired."

"Help me look for firewood before you go to sleep," Ash said.

"Oh, okay," Galacteon said. He started searching the grass for wood as Pikachu climbed the tree and tried to break off the smaller branches.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu called from the top of the tree.

"Huh?" Ash looked up. He didn't respond soon enough to avoid getting hit in the face with one of the branches Pikachu threw down. He said, "That should be enough wood, Pikachu…."

"Pika-pika-chu! Pika-ka-chu!" Pikachu cried.

"You see Viridian City?" Ash asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu called.

"He does!" Galacteon yipped happily.

"How far is it?" Ash asked Pikachu, "If we kept walking could we be there in 15 minutes?"

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded after climbing to a lower branch.

"So do you two want to keep going?" Ash asked, "The Pokémon Center will be a lot more comfortable than the ground."

Pikachu and Galacteon considered this. They decided to keep going.

"Alright! Let's go!" Ash said. He turned north and didn't take two steps before he heard a voice that was much too familiar. 

"Prepare for trouble and make it double!" multiple voices said.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"Here we go again," Ash sighed as a group of four bright lights in other nearby trees lit up the area.

"To announce our power over truth and love!"

"To reach and grab to stars above!"

"Didn't see _that_ coming," Ash said.

"Pikachu," Pikachu agreed.

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Pyra!"

"Flames!"

"Cassidie!"

"Butch!"

"Uh-oh," Galacteon whispered as all six Team Rocket members jumped into view.

"Team Rocket circles the world all day and night!" Cassidie said.

"Surrender to us now, for you will surly loose the fight!"

"That's right!" Meowth and Ninetails said.

"Raticate!" Raticate finished.

"Uh…hi," Ash said, for lack of a better greeting.

"Hello," Jessie said, "Where're your friends, Twerp?"

"It's none of your business," Ash said.

"We'll make it our business," Butch said.

"What do we do?" Galacteon whispered.

"I'd say…." Ash began.

"[Run!]" Pikachu finished. Ash, Pikachu, and Galacteon abruptly ran down the road. They didn't get far before one of Flames's Charizards blocked their path.

"Charizard, go!" Ash threw Charizard's Pokéball. Both Charizards met head-on and took flight. After a few moments of aerial combat, they landed. One was on its back with the other standing on its chest.

"Which one is yours?" Cassidie asked, raising a rifle.

"The one on the bottom," Flames said shamefully.

Phit! A tranquilizer shot from the barrel of Cassidie's rifle and hit Ash's Charizard in the chest.

"Rrroww?" Charizard growled, taking the needle out of his chest. He slumped over and fell onto the other Charizard, who pushed him away.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

"Charizard!" Ash called.

"He's out cold!" Galacteon said.

"Galacteon, Pikachu!" Ash said, "Attack that Charizard together!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said, springing into action.

"Heya!" Galacteon cried, running after Pikachu.

Phit! Phit! They dodged the tranquilizers. As the Charizard took flight, Pikachu shocked it with Thunderbolt. Galacteon, dodging a third tranquilizer, charged up and used Mega Moonbeam. The star hit Charizard's belly, and the moons hit him in the back.

"Rrroww…" the Charizard grumbled in pain. It fell to the ground unconscious.

"Charizard return!" Flames ordered.

Phit! Pikachu used Agility and narrowly dodged another tranquilizer. 

"Go, Arbok!" Jessie released Arbok.

"Get them, Ninetails!" Pyra ordered.

"Get out there, Raticate!" Butch commanded. 

"Nine!" Ninetails cried. He torched the leaves in an attempt to hit Pikachu. 

"Canines can't catch mice! Never send a dog to do a cat's job!" Meowth said. When he ran after Pikachu, he was fried. "Of course, no one's saying they can't try…."

"I am a fox, not a dog!" Ninetails insisted.

"Char-bock!" Arbok's jaws latched on to Galacteon's back paw.

"Arrroooo!" Galacteon howled.

"Galacteon!" Ash cried.

"Poison it, Arbok!" Jessie ordered. Galacteon's blade rose, ready to strike.

"No you don't!" Ninetails grabbed Galacteon's tail below the blade in his teeth.

Galacteon trounced around, trying to free himself.

"Alright!" Cassidie said. After missing Pikachu's tail by less than a millimeter, she turned her rifle to Galacteon, who was trapped.

Chapter 8

Jigglypuff was sleeping and was awakened by a lot of Pokémon battle sounds. 

"Puff…" Jigglypuff moaned, rolled over, and attempted to go back to sleep.

The noise continued.

"[Maybe I can put those people to sleep…]" Jigglypuff considered. She got up, grabbed her stuff, and headed in that direction.

"Arrroooo!" 

"[That sounds like trouble!]" Jigglypuff exclaimed. She started running in the direction of the noises. After going only a short ways, Jigglypuff stopped and panted. She tossed a Pokéball.

"Doe!" squawked the appearing Doduo. Jigglypuff hopped on its back.

"Jiggly-puff-puff!" Jigglypuff ordered. Doduo bolted toward the noise.

~~~

"Let go!" Galacteon howled. He kicked furiously, hoping to shake Arbok off. Arbok was beginning to get dizzy; he wrapped the end of his tail around Ninetails's middle. Galacteon bit into Ninetails's leg. Ninetails gave a muffled shout.

Click!

"What happened?" Butch said, seeing that Cassidie had fired her rifle, but nothing had happened.

"Empty," Cassidie sighed, lowering her weapon.

"Wee-ee!" Weezing tackled Pikachu from behind and knocked him over near Ninetails.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried as he was whipped by nine long white tails. "Pi…ka…CHU!"

"Nine…tails…" Ninetails muttered. After being fried, he fell over and was out cold.

"Heya!" Galacteon Slashed Arbok's face and was freed.

"Arbok! Why didn't you poison it?!" Jessie demanded.

"Char?" Arbok wonder.

"It's hard to poison a Lunar-type," Galacteon mocked.

"Chu!" Pikachu finished off Arbok.

"Go!" Pyra released another Charizard.

"Drowzee! Hypnosis!" Cassidie ordered.

"Drowzee…" Drowzee stood behind the new Charizard and used Hypnosis on Galacteon and Pikachu. Galacteon drooped; Pikachu collapsed.

"Nice try!" Galacteon said as he leaped at the surprised Drowzee.

"Rrroww!" the Charizard used Flame Thrower on Galacteon before he reached Drowzee.

"Arr.…" Galacteon moaned

"Hang in there!" Ash called. "Go, Squirtle! Water Gun!"

"Squire…till!" Squirtle blasted the Charizard with water. It fell, dizzy.

"Drow…" Drowzee began a Metronome.

"Squirt!" Squirtle cried in alarm. He looked to Ash, who was too busy competing in a tug-a-war with Butch over the heavily sleeping Pikachu. 

Galacteon noticed Drowzee, but was to busy fighting Flames's Arcanine to do anything. Pikachu's tail slipped from Ash's hands and Butch jumped away.

"Heya!" Galacteon, heavily injured, leaped back and glared at Arcanine. Small amounts of flame spurted out from Arcanine's bared teeth. Galacteon panted wearily.

"Du-O!"

Everyone looked up abruptly to search for the surprising noise. A shadowed figure appeared near one of Team Rocket's lights for a few second. The light was broken and the figure disappeared. One by one, the other three lights were broken the same way. The only remaining light sources were the burning foliage and the now-brighter-looking full moon.

"Hey! Who messed with our lights!" Jessie said.

"It doesn't matter!" Flames said.

"Keep fighting!" Butch ordered.

"Ar-Kay!" Arcanine looked around for Galacteon. It was too dark to see.

"[Get Drowzee!]" Squirtle yelled, searching vainly for Drowzee to stop the Metronome.

"Galacteon?!" Ash cried.

"Squirt!" Squirtle pointed to Galacteon, who was standing in the shadows gasping in exhaustion. 

"What are you doing, Galacteon?!" Ash demanded. 

Galacteon didn't say anything. He stood staring at the moon. It reflected in his eyes and on his tail blade. He howled.

"This is no time to howl at the moon!" Ash said.

"Do!" something large landed on Drowzee's head and began attacking.

"Jigglypuff!" Jigglypuff jumped off of Doduo, who was attacking Drowzee, and landed on Weezing before proceeding with a Double Slap. 

"Heya!" Galacteon turned to face Arcanine. The star on his forehead was glowing. Arcanine roared. Galacteon's star emitted a circular light, making a sort of small hoop of light that hovered in front of Galacteon. The hoop broke away from the light that formed it. It grew and widened. 

"Galacteon's new attack?" Ash wondered.

"New?" Jigglypuff wondered.

"Canine?" Arcanine questioned fearfully.

Galacteon roared and the hoop zoomed toward Arcanine. It rose enough to go over his head and around him. It lifted him off the ground and spun in crazy ways around him. It looked like Arcanine was trapped in a floating white sphere.

"Ar-Kay! NINE!" Arcanine howled. He writhed painfully.

"Wow," Ash commented.

"[Don't you know Lunar-type Pokémon are stronger in the moonlight?]" Jigglypuff questioned. She looked at Doduo, who stood triumphantly over the unconscious Drowzee. Galacteon practically collapsed at Ash's feet. Ash looked surprised.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"Tired," Galacteon panted.

"Amateur…." Jigglypuff said and winked at Galacteon. To Doduo she said, "Jiggly-jig-jiggly-puff!" She spun on one foot for some unseen reason while Doduo pecked everyone with Fury Attack.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked.

"Err?" Galacteon whimpered.

"Jig…lee…" Jigglypuff stopped spinning and crackled with electricity, "PUFF!" Jigglypuff fried Pyra and James with Thunderbolt.

"Squirtle…?" Squirtle murmured nervously.

"Doe!" Doduo flapped hard with its tiny wings, took flight, landed on Raticate, and jumped over behind Jigglypuff, Ash, and Galacteon.

"Jiggly-puff-jig," Jigglypuff said. As Doduo bounded toward Butch, Jigglypuff looked at the moon.

"Duo!"

"Hey!" Butch cried as Doduo snatched Pikachu by the tail and hopped backward into its previous position.

"¯ Jig-uh-lee-puff…Jig-uh-lee-ee-ee-p—¯ " Jigglypuff's voice cracked. She stopped singing and coughed before anyone fell asleep.

"Too bad that didn't work," Jessie mocked.

Chapter 9

"Jig-uh-lee, puff, puff!" Jigglypuff inflated angrily.

"Allergies, huh?" Ash asked.

Jigglypuff, still ballooned, seemed to be concentrating. After a moment, she let her breath out and sent a huge beam of light toward Team Rocket.

"Ahh!" Cassidie cried as she, the others, and their Pokémon were blown into the horizon.

"Puff…" Jigglypuff moaned as she rolled off her feet and onto her back.

"See?" Galacteon asked weakly, "Now you're tired."

"Lunar Cannon takes a lot more energy than Lunar Hoop…." Jigglypuff said. She went to sleep.

"You need a rest," Ash said. Galacteon was drawn into his Pokéball.

No one noticed the Pidgey that had been circling over head the hole time. It had a tiny camera around its neck. The camera beeped thrice in time with a small red flickering light. In response to the beeps, the Pidgey turned and flew north. 

"Doe," Doduo put Jigglypuff and her belongings onto its back with one beak and used the other to hand Ash Pikachu.

"Thanks," Ash said. With Doduo following, Ash continued on his way to Viridian, and eventually, the Pokémon League.


	2. Parts 2 and 3

A PokéSeries #9

War of Wars  
by Cyllya  
"Part 2: Battles, Boulders, and Grief"  
and   
"Part 3: Pika-Prattle-Power and Bulbasaur's Flower"

****

Part 2: Battles, Boulders, and Grief

Chapter 10 (1)

Ash and Pikachu, along with Doduo and its exhausted master, arrived at the Viridian Pokémon Center in the middle of the night. Although she was polite, it was clear that Nurse Joy wasn't happy to see them so late. Chansey healed all of Ash's Pokémon, Doduo, and Jigglypuff. They stayed until morning.

"Rise and shine, Pikachu," Ash said.

"Pi-ka…" Pikachu yawned. Galacteon's Pokéball opened, revealing that Galacteon was healthy, refreshed, and rearing to go.

"Does Viridian City have a gym?" he asked.

"Pika-chu," Pikachu nodded.

"Though whether or not it's intact is beyond me," Ash said, "We'll go check it out."

"Bye," said Nurse Joy, who was a little more cheerful than the night before.

"See ya, thanks," Ash said.

They walked down to the gym and stopped at the sign that was in front of it.

"'Closed for repairs,'" Ash read, "Oh, well. Maybe someone replaced Tracey at the Pewter Gym."

"Pika," Pikachu said.

"Rock-types?" Galacteon asked, "You know, I think Bulbasaur could use some experience…"

"If you can beat a Pokémon type that you're weak against," Ash said, "That proves your pretty tough."

"I guess," Galacteon said.

"Pika-chu," Pikachu said.

"We'll head through the Viridian Forest," Ash said, "but we should go to the PokéMart first."

"It's just across the street," Galacteon turned to Pikachu, "I'll race ya!"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped off Ash's hat and started racing Galacteon.

"Hey, look both ways!" Ash called and ran after them. They did as they were told before running across the crosswalk. Pikachu used Agility and reached the steps of the PokéMart about a half second before Galacteon.

"Cheater," Galacteon said, "I don't know an Agility technique."

"Pi-he-he," Pikachu giggled.

"Please don't run off like that guys!" Ash insisted as he ran up.

"Sorry," Galacteon said.

"Ka-chu," Pikachu's ears drooped.

They went into the PokéMart.

Chapter 11 (2)

Giovanni watched a large TV screen in his office. Persian was napping soundly nearby. There was a Pidgey on Giovanni's shoulder.

On the screen was an aerial view of Ash's most recent battle with Team Rocket.

"So unreliable," Giovanni muttered. He paused the part where Jigglypuff's Lunar Cannon attack was blowing everyone away. He rewound it to see Ninetails and Arbok latched on to Galacteon, then to see the two Charizards battling. He said, "I don't know what I'll do with them."

All six Team Rocket members were in the room with the long steel table. Jessie was eating potato chips. She had three Band-Aids on her face, and her arm was bandaged. James had a neck brace and wasn't doing anything in particular. 

Flames and Butch, injured though they were, were playing chess. Flames was winning. Pyra was attempting to reapply her make-up with her left hand because her right arm was in a sling. Cassidie had a bandage around her head. She was reading a book. Meowth, Ninetails, and Raticate were playing "Go Fish" on the floor.

"Checkmate," Flames said triumphantly.

"Drat…" Butch said. He threw the little Ponyta-shaped knight figurine at Flames's forehead before scooting his chair over toward Cassidie, who looked frustrated. He asked, "What are you reading?"

"The Poklopedia," Cassidie said flatly.

"The _what_?" Butch asked.

"Bad name," Cassidie lifted the book's cover so Butch could see it, "It's a Pokémon encyclopedia. Like a really low-tech PokéDex."

"Oh."

"I was looking up Jigglypuff to see if I could find out what that attack was it used," Cassidie explained.

"Which one is it?" Butch asked.

"It's not listed," Cassidie said, "There's Sing, Pound, Double Slap, Disable, Metronome… The basics. But none of those are like that attack."

She closed the book in frustration.

"Can I barrow that?" James asked.

Cassidie wordlessly pushed the book across the table. James flipped through the pages.

"What are you looking for?" Jessie asked.

"Those little cat things," James answered quietly. After determining that that Pokémon wasn't in the book, he closed it and pushed it back to Cassidie, who had fallen asleep out of sheer boredom.

Although the lighting didn't differ, it was like a shadow had passed over the room. Everyone turned toward the end of the table. Giovanni stood there. Persian was sitting disdainfully near Meowth, Raticate, and Ninetails. Every so often, he'd use his tail to slap one of them in the back of the head and act like he hadn't done a thing.

"I'm very disappointed w—" Giovanni stopped and glared at Cassidie.

"Cassidie, wake up!" Butch shook her shoulder.

"Hmm?" Cassidie muttered. Persian was the first thing she saw. She abruptly sat up straight, straighten her hair a bit, and paid attention to what Giovanni was saying.

"As I was saying," Giovanni continued, "I'm very disappointed with you. The display that occurred last night was ridiculous!"

Everyone, even Persian, cringed as Giovanni yelled.

"I have not yet decided what I'll do in view of this failure," Giovanni said, "but I can guarantee that it isn't something you'll be happy with. I wanted to make sure that I'm not disturbed while considering."

"Yes, Sir," Jessie said quietly.

Giovanni walked out a lot louder than he had come in. He left the door open about two inches. For a few seconds, everyone stayed silent as they considered what had just been said.

"This is all you guy's faults," Cassidie directed her accusation to everyone except Raticate and Butch, "You're all crummy trainers."

"Like you should be talking!" James complained, "You couldn't beat that twerp either! And your Drowzee is… stupid!"

"Real mature," Butch said sarcastically.

"We'll see who has stupid Pokémon!" Cassidie exclaimed, "Who objects to a six-way Pokémon battle?"

"Well, I—" Pyra began. Everyone looked at her like she was an idiot. She said, "Never mind," and put the top back on her lipstick.

Persian silently slipped through the door without anyone noticing. He laid under the table. He wore a collar that had the Pidgey's camera. 

Chapter 12 (3)

Ash, Pikachu, and Galacteon exited the PokéMart with a plastic bag full.

"We have Potions, Pokéballs, Antidotes, Paralysis Heals, and a couple of Super Potions for emergencies," Ash said, "That's all we need, right?"

"Pika," Pikachu nodded.

"Great," Ash said, "Let's go!"

Ash tied the bag to the exterior of his backpack, since there was no room inside it. They entered the Viridian Forest and walked along the trail. A Weedle wiggled across the trail. Ash looked over his shoulder again and sighed before he continued walking.

"What was that about?" Galacteon whispered to Pikachu.

"[He was expecting to hear Misty scream,]" Pikachu explained.

"Oh, yeah," Galacteon said.

"Excuse me?" someone called. Ash, Pikachu, and Galacteon turned to see a man walking toward them. He was really tall, but he didn't look much older than twenty.

"Yeah?" Ash asked. 

"You're a Pokémon trainer, right?" the man asked.

"Yep," Ash said.

"Well, would you like a quick one-on-one?" the man requested.

"Sure," Ash said. He threw Bulbasaur's Pokéball, "Go, Bulbasaur!"

"Go, Growlithe!"

"Bulb-a!"

"GROWL!" 

Bulbasaur looked nervous, but stayed confident. The Growlithe couldn't have looked tougher if it were and Arcanine. It growled ferociously and glared at Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, use your Vine Whip to restrain Growlithe!" Ash ordered.

"Dodge it and use Flame Thrower, Growlithe!"

Bulbasaur's vines twisted in a futile attempt to wrap around the legs of the agile Growlithe, while Bulbasaur tried desperately to dodge the fire.

"He knew what I was going to do because he heard me order Bulbasaur," Ash thought, "Let's see him react to this…."

"Take down!" Growlithe's trainer ordered.

"Tackle!" Ash commanded, followed by, "Pika-pika-chu pi-KA!"

"Pika," Pikachu commented as Growlithe furiously charged toward Bulbasaur.

"I knew Ash learned to _understand_ Pokémon speech," Galacteon said, "but I didn't know he could _speak_ it too."

Bulbasaur lunged toward Growlithe.

"Pika! Pi-pika-chu pi-pi-ka-chu!" Ash said to Bulbasaur.

"Good strategy, but is that a legal move?" Galacteon questioned.

"Saur!" right when Growlithe and Bulbasaur were about to collide, head on, Bulbasaur jumped and soared over the startled Growlithe. He pivoted and used Vine Whip as Growlithe started to use Ember. One vine wrapped around Growlithe's muzzle. This stopped Growlithe's attack and made smoke come out its nose. Bulbasaur's vines lengthened and tied the thrashing Growlithe up.

"Grrr…" came Growlithe's muffled growl.

"Bulb-a-SAUR!" Bulbasaur cried. Two more vines appeared from under Bulbasaur's bulb and held Growlithe in the air. Soon the only part of Growlithe that could be seen was its nose, ears, eyes, and tail.

"Break free, Growlithe!" its trainer ordered.

"Pika! Pika-pika-chu-ka-chu!" Ash said.

Sun light was absorbed into Bulbasaur's bulb. Bulbasaur removed his vines all at once and shot Growlithe with Solar Beam. Growlithe fell. It was badly injured, but it was getting up.

"Bulb!" Bulbasaur used Tackle and knocked Growlithe out. 

"Growlithe, return," its trainer recalled it.

"Great job, Bulbasaur!" Ash praised, hugging Bulbasaur.

"Pika!" Pikachu agreed.

"Saur," Bulbasaur said tiredly.

"Thanks for the battle, kid," the man said, "You have one heck of a Bulbasaur."

"Thanks," Ash said. The man jogged back toward Viridian, and Ash returned Bulbasaur. They continued on their way to Pewter City.

Chapter 14 (5)

"This'll be a two-on-two!" Cassidie said. 

"Right," James agreed.

"Get 'em Drowzee!"

"Weezing, go!"

"Doesn't James know that Poison types are weak versus Psychics?" Meowth asked himself.

"It's not a very well known fact," Ninetails said, "It doesn't look like Cassidie knows."

"Drowzee!" Cassidie ordered, "Psywave!"

"Weezing! Smog attack!" James commanded.

"Wee-ee!" Weezing blew smoke in Drowzee's face, but was nearly knocked out by the Psywave.

"The next hit from Drowzee will knock out Weezing," James thought, "Weezing, Explosion!" 

BOOM!

Weezing blew up. Both it and Drowzee were out cold. They were returned.

"Go, Victreebel!" James ordered.

"Then I choose…Vileplume!" Cassidie called.

James held Victreebel back when it tried to eat him and ordered it to use Wrap on Vileplume. It did as it was told, but it was injured by its opponent's Absorb first. Vileplume was trapped in Victreebel's "mouth" and couldn't get out or attack. After receiving a lot of damage, Vileplume escaped and used Thrash. Although it injured itself, and Victreebel kept hitting it with Vine Whip, Victreebel was the one who fainted.

"Hah! I win!" Cassidie declared.

James sighed and returned Victreebel. Jessie and Pyra started a battle.

Lickitung paralyzed Charmeleon in one Lick. Pyra recalled it and sent out Rapidash. Rapidash used Agility and wasn't hit by the tongue. Lickitung was Mega Kicked and Stomped until it fainted. Arbok wrapped around Rapidash's middle, where he couldn't be reached. Despite Rapidash jumping around crazily, it was squeezed until it fell. Arbok slithered off then Bit it. Rapidash was too weak to keep battling.

"Weakling," Jessie muttered.

"Like she should be talking…" Ninetails muttered.

"You mean Jessie?" Meowth asked. He got angry and unsheathed his claws, "Don't talk about my friends like that!"

Ninetails growled. The two of them started fighting. Their battle looked like a mini tornado. While they battled, Butch's Raticate and Flames's Charizard faced off.

Raticate jumped and used Hyper Fang on Charizard's neck. Charizard Slashed it away and tried Flame Thrower. Raticate kept dodging. Charizard was Bit in the tail, but its Fire Spin finished Raticate off. Butch sent out a Wartortle that finished Charizard off in one Bubble Beam. 

The Pokémon that Flames sent out then was Feligiston. The cat's yellow eyes glowed as it dodged the attacks from Wartortle. It came up from behind and swatted Wartortle's head with it's tail. It wove through Wartortle's Bubble like a fiery snake, jumped up, and shot a Fire Blast at Wartortle. Wartortle, now fried, fell onto its back and spun a few times. Thus Flames was pronounced the winner. 

Meowth and Ninetails were still battling when Flames, Jessie, and Cassidie healed their Pokémon.

Jessie versus Flames began with Arbok versus Feligiston. Jessie instructed Arbok to use Poison Sting instead of getting close to Feligiston's fur. After the third time Feligiston was knock back by Arbok's attack, it was poisoned. Arbok paralyzed it with Glare, and continued Poison Sting until its opponent couldn't fight. Flames's Arcanine took Arbok down with Dragon Rage. Despite its speed, it was still paralyzed and Body Slammed by Lickitung. 

Now that Jessie had won, it was her against Cassidie. Lickitung had a tiny resistance to Psychic Pokémon, and it wasn't put to sleep by Drowzee's Hypnosis. It squeezed Drowzee with its tongue. Drowzee used Psybeam to knock Lickitung back. Repeated Lick attacks made Lickitung the victor. As Cassidie sent out her next Pokémon, she dug in her purse with her other hand.

Jessie laughed when she saw the new opponent. She demanded, "_That's _your Pokémon?!"

The two inch high little bird buzzed her wings angrily.

"Alajem," Cassidie said, still searching her purse, "Agility and Drill Peck."

Alajem buzzed and flew circles around Lickitung. She became circular green blurs. Lickitung got dizzy trying to watch her. Her beak spun like a drill as she dived at Lickitung. Lickitung was struck in the head. Its tongue made crazy loop-de-loops in a bootless attempt to use Lick on the little bird. As Alajem narrowly avoided being squeezed, the tongue got tied in a knot. Lickitung was tongue-tied.

"Mellow, Mellow," Cassidie said.

Alajem fluttered up to Lickitung, smiled, and blinked. Every human in the room, save Cassidie, seemed confused.

"Tongue…" Lickitung said. It slouched a little. Its tongue unknotted. 

"Lickitung, Body Slam!" Jessie ordered.

"Lick-ee…" Lickitung just stood there calmly.

Alajem chirped and fluttered back up high.

"Nectar!" Cassidie called.

"Chirp!" chirped Alajem. She suck in a big breath as a slight glow was emitted from her throat. She pointed her beak at Lickitung and spit a narrow stream of brownish liquid.

"Lick-ee!" Lickitung cried as Alajem swooped around and continued the attack. "Tongue!" Lickitung became coated in the strong-smelling fluid. The impact of the nectar hitting Lickitung had done damage, but now the Pokémon was stuck in the goop. One more Drill Peck from Alajem finished Lickitung off. Cassidie stopped rummaging through her purse as she pulled out a fist-sized white stone that had a vague picture of a wing on it.

"Char-bock-er!" Arbok cried, materializing from its Pokéball.

"You're fast, Arbok," Jessie cried, "You can get that little chick with your Poison Sting!"

"Char!" Arbok shot its Poison Sting attack all over. Alajem narrowly dodged the bright blue needles. Arbok attempted Bite when Alajem came close, but the bird slipped through the side of Arbok's jaws before they closed. Arbok used Glare. Alajem got a shocked expression and froze. No longer flapping, she fell to the floor right in front of Cassidie. 

Before Arbok could attack again, Cassidie knelt down and touched the white stone to Alajem. The bird glowed and took flight again. She grew slightly, and her tail became slightly longer than the rest of her body. She stop glowing and flew up high. 

"Hey, that's cheating!" Jessie protested.

"First of all, I don't care," Cassidie said, "Second, no it's not. It's not against Pokémon League rules to have your Pokémon evolve in the middle of a match. Right, Alazure?"

The bird, now known as Alazure, chirped in agreement.

Jessie frowned, "Arbok, Glare!"

Alazure lifted her long tail in front of her face and blocked the attack. Her light blue throat glowed as her tail lowered. She abruptly pushed her wings forward and sent a beam of light—a Confuse Ray—at Arbok.

"Char!" Arbok thrashed around in circles and bit its own tail. After it was Drill Pecked by Alazure, Arbok shook its head and regained its senses. Alazure still dodged the Poison Sting, so when she was close again, Arbok tried Bite one more time. Once again, Alazure slipped through. This time, however, her longer tail was caught in Arbok's teeth.

Alazure fought to free herself. Her tiny wing delivered a feeble Wing Attack to Arbok's eye. Arbok dropped her, but started a Wrap attack before she could escape. Alazure was squeezed into unconsciousness.

"Great job, Arbok!" Jessie said, "Guess that proves size does matter!"

Meowth and Ninetails were still battling. Meowth was blackened, and Ninetails looked like he'd been thrown through a blender. As Cassidie grumbled and returned Alazure, the two of them ended up rolling over Persian's tail. Persian screeched painfully, alerting everyone of his presence. 

"Purr-r-r-r…" Persian growled angrily. Meowth and Ninetails stopped battling. Persian lunged at them and used Pay Day. Coins flew from the jewel on Persian's head with such force that they knocked Meowth and Ninetails against the far wall. Seeing his revenge complete, Persian turned up his nose and walked arrogantly out of the room. 

Chapter 15 (4)

The rest of the trip through the Viridian Forest was uneventful. The few battles versus wild Pokémon were won in one or two hits. Ash, Pikachu, and Galacteon entered Pewter City and headed for the Pokémon Center. 

"Pika!" Pikachu wolfed an apple down in three bites.

"Well someone's got a bigger appetite than usual," Ash said seconds after Pikachu finished off two more apples.

"Pi-ka?" 

"And you're still not eating as much as Galacteon," Ash added, seeing Galacteon scarf down PokéFood. Galacteon giggled and went back to his food.

After eating, Pikachu hopped over to the phones that lined the right wall of the center. He looked on a small piece of paper and dialed a phone. The receiving end of the phone rung. After a moment, an adult woman with short black hair answered the phone.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, "Pi-Pika?"

"Huh?" the lady asked. A Vaporeon lifted its head into view.

"Pika-chu?" Pikachu asked.

The lady held the phone to Vaporeon, "Tell me what it's saying, Haze."

"Vay-Vaporeon," Haze, the Vaporeon, said.

"Pika," Pikachu said, "Pikachu?"

Haze said something to the lady, turned back to Pikachu, and said, "Vay-poor. Vay-eon. Vapor?"

"Chu," Pikachu said dispiritedly, "Pika-ka-Pikachu."

"Vapor," Haze said.

"Pika," Pikachu hung up.

"Misty, Togechikku, and Pika weren't there yet, huh?" Galacteon asked.

"Chu," Pikachu said sadly.

"Cheer up," Galacteon advised, "You'll be able to chat with 'em soon." 

They left the Center and headed to the gym. It looked just like it had last time. Ash opened the door and stuck his head in.

"Hello?" Ash asked. His eyes adjusted to the dim lights.

"Yes?" a man, whom Ash recognized as Tracey's father, walked greeted him.

"Hi, nice to see you," Ash said, "I need a badge, so I challenge you to a match."

"How'd you know I was the gym leader?" Tracey's father asked.

"You have a Pokémon League name badge on your shirt," Ash pointed out.

"Oh, yeah…" The tag had a Boulder Badge attached to the corner with the words: "POKÉMON LEAGUE: Flint, Leader of the Pewter Gym."

"How about that battle?" Ash asked, walking in completely. Galacteon and Pikachu followed shyly behind him.

"Oh, yes," Flint said, "We'll have a four-on-four and—"

"Daddy, Daddy! I ripped my skirt again!"

Flint fell over in nihilism.

"Pika," Pikachu commented as a girl ran up.

"Wear shorts until Daddy's battle is over, Suzy," Flint said, getting up.

"Okay," Suzy said somberly and walked out of the room.

Flint led Ash to the battling area.

"It looks a little different than before…." Ash said, referring to the arena.

"I took out the tile and floor boards and brought in some real boulders," Flint said, "It has a nicer effect than the ceramic rocks you saw last time."

"Oh," Ash said.

"So let's battle!" Flint jumped onto the slight rise where the gym leader was supposed to sit, "Go get 'em, Rhyhorn!"

Ash said, "Go, Squirtle! Bubble!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cried. He sucked in a big breath and exhaled about twenty bubbles at Rhyhorn. The bubbles blew up on contact with Rhyhorn's face. Rhyhorn shook its head hurtfully.

"Horn Attack!" Flint ordered.

"Rrroww!" Rhyhorn roared. It charged at Squirtle.

"Withdraw!" Ash called.

"Squirt!" Squirtle retreated into his shell seconds before being hit in the belly by the charging Rhyhorn. Squirtle, still withdrawn, got knocked off the ground, ricocheted off the wall, and came flying back. He hit Rhyhorn in the face, bounced back, popped out of his shell, and landed softly on one of the boulders.

"Great job, Squirtle," Ash praised, "Now finish—"

Ash stopped in mid-sentence as Squirtle jumped up and hit Rhyhorn with a huge blast of water. The stream of liquid was bigger around than Squirtle.

"Woah!" Ash cried, "Is that—?!"

"—the Hydro Pump attack?!" Galacteon finished.

"[From Squirtle?!]" Pikachu demanded.

The attack propelled Rhyhorn against the wall. It was unconscious. Squirtle gasped for breath; he seemed exhausted. The next Pokémon that Flint chose was Graveler.

"Squirt…" Squirtle moaned. He tried to use Water Gun, but was all out of water.

"Return, Squirtle," Ash said, "Go, Bulbasaur!"

"Saur!" Bulbasaur cried.

"Rock Throw!" Flint ordered Graveler. Bulbasaur narrowly dodged each of the thrown rocks.

"Do a Vine Whip!" Ash ordered.

"Defense Curl!" Flint cried.

"Graveler," Graveler curled up and seemed unharmed by the attack.

"Razor Leaf," Ash said.

"Bulb-a!" Bulbasaur exclaimed, shooting leaves out from beneath his bulb. The leaves hit and knocked out Graveler. Bulbasaur looked proud. A few seconds later, Bulbasaur looked sick.

"What's wrong, Bulbasaur?" Ash asked.

"Bulb," Bulbasaur attempted to look at full health.

"Great, you can do it," Ash said.

"Saur," Bulbasaur smiled.

Flint's next Pokémon trumpeted.

"What's that?" Ash wondered and held up his PokéDex, "I think we've fought this before…"

"Donfan," Dexter said, "This Pokémon has been only recently discovered. It is of the Rock variety."

"Watch out for its Tackle, Bulbasaur!" Ash ordered, "Use Razor Leaf!"

"Bah!" Bulbasaur shot leaves at Donfan, but it curled up and roll at Bulbasaur. The motion knocked the leaves harmlessly aside. Donfan hit Bulbasaur and knocked him into the air. Bulbasaur landed unconscious.

"Bulbasaur, return," Ash said, "Go get it, Galacteon!"

"Heya!" Galacteon jumped in to face Donfan, who was now uncurled. Donfan curled up again and continued its Tackle. Galacteon jumped out of the way several times.

"Swift!" Ash called.

Galacteon used the Swift attack and made stars whirl at Donfan. The stars knock it back and sent it rolling the other way. It rolled up a curved boulder and flew into the air. It landed on Galacteon's back.

"Gah!" Galacteon yelled as Donfan squashed him, bounced back, and stood ready.

"Take Down, now!" Flint ordered. Donfan rushed at Galacteon, who dodged. Donfan circled back around and rushed at Galacteon again. At the very last possible second, Galacteon jumped. Donfan slammed face-first into the wall and bounced back dizzily. Galacteon landed on it and jumped away. Galacteon fired a Moonbeam at it and knocked it out.

"Way to go, Galacteon!" Ash said.

"Go, Rhydon!" Flint ordered, throwing the Pokéball containing Rhydon.

Galacteon stood ready. He dodged most of Rhydon's Fury Attack, but was hit on the last jab. Rhyhorn then attempted a Horn Drill, but it didn't work. Galacteon charged up and did Lunar Hoop. The hoop encircled and trapped Rhydon. After a minute or so, the hoop vanished and dropped Rhydon. Rhydon was weak, but still ready to battle. Galacteon seemed surprised.

"One more Horn Drill, Rhydon!" Flint ordered. Rhydon's horn spun and hit Galacteon. Galacteon was sent sprawling.

"Galacteon, return!" Ash said, recalling Galacteon with his Pokéball, "You can beat that thing, Pikachu!"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped into battle and began circling Rhydon with Agility. Rhydon got dizzy and failed at a Fury Attack. 

"Use Thunderbolt and aim for the horn!" Ash commanded.

"Pika…CHU!" Pikachu aimed all the electric energy of a Thunderbolt at Rhyhorn's horn. It was the only part of Rhydon that conducted electricity. Rhyhorn got fried.

"You win," Flint admitted and recalled Rhydon. He walked over to Ash and presented him with a Boulder Badge.

"Alright!" Ash exclaimed, "Pikachu, we're well on our way to a Pokémon League rematch!"

"Pika!" Pikachu said happily.

"Thanks," Ash said to Flint. He and Pikachu walked outside, where Ash's new Boulder Badge glittered in the sunlight.

"Pikachu Pika?" Pikachu asked.

"Yep," Ash said, "We'll head to the Pokémon Center before we leave."

"Chu," Pikachu said.

Chapter 16 (5)

Back at T.R. Headquarters, Giovanni and Persian watched what Persian had videotaped. 

"So, Pyra, James, and Butch are crummy trainers…" Giovanni mumbled, "We've been having some financial problems lately… Salaries are taking up way too much of Team Rocket's budget."

~~~

James and Pyra were called to Giovanni's office. They entered timidly and stood on the other side of his desk. Giovanni didn't even bother to look at them.

"This we'll be easier for all of us if we get it over with," Giovanni said, "You're lousy, useless, and incompetent. Your Pokémon are weaklings, and your salaries are wasting Team Rocket's money. Your both fired!"

"WHAT!" Pyra demanded.

"You heard me," Giovanni said, "Get out!"

"But…" James stuttered.

"I said OUT!" Giovanni yelled. 

"Purr-r-r-r-shin!" Persian leaped over the desk and Slashed at them. They ran out the door of the office.

"Fired?" James whimpered, once safe outside.

"Don't pout; it probably makes him happier," Pyra advised.

"We ought to call the cops and tell them about the whole Team Rocket organization!" James thought, "Where the headquarters are, who Giovanni is…"

"You do that," Pyra said, "Just don't tell them about Flames, Ninetails, or me. I hope you feel you've gotten your revenge when you, Jessie, Cassidie, and Butch are in jail along with Giovanni. Your Pokémon will stay with you since you get a few years in prison at max. For all the trouble Giovanni's caused, he'll get about 50 years. That means his Pokémon, including Meowth, will probably go to the pound… or maybe a Pokémon reserve."

"Oh, you're right…" James admitted.

"I'm gonna see if I can get lucky in Vegas," Pyra said, "See ya, cry baby."

"But—" James stopped for lack of anything to say. Pyra took the elevator down the building, so James walked slowly down the stairs.

~~~

As they were told to do, the others came into the office.

"Pyra and James are fired, and I won't rehire them, so don't bother trying to persuade me," Giovanni said quickly, "I was hoping to spread each of your strong points out in the team. So as of today, Jessie and Butch are partners."

"WHAT?!" Jessie, Butch, and Cassidie cried.

"Cassidie and Flames are partners as well," Giovanni said.

"Oh," Cassidie groaned.

"Meowth will be working with Jessie and Butch," Giovanni continued, "and Ninetails will be working with Cassidie and Flames."

Meowth and Ninetails stopped crying and sniffled. They were upset about James and Pyra.

"You're dismissed," Giovanni said, "Go catch something, or whatever. I'll tell you when your have an assignment."

"Yes, sir," everyone said sadly. They walked, head down, out of the room. 

As they left Flames said, "You're really upset, aren't you?" to Cassidie.

"What makes you think that?" Cassidie said, entering the hallway.

"Because you're—" 

"Don't even say it!" Cassidie snapped. She wiped her right eye; "I just have something in my eye."

"But…" Flames leaned to get a better view of her left eye, but she turned away.

She sniffled, "I have something in that eye too…."

"I'm kinda upset that Pyra got fired…" Flames admitted, "but I don't mind working with you; you're cute!"

Cassidie frowned, and a vein bulged on her forehead. She intertwined her fingers and used both hands to hit Flames hard in the back of his head. Because he was now unconscious, she grabbed his wrist and dragged her new partner down the hall.

~~~

When no one was paying attention, Jessie slipped out the back door of the building and headed to the Meowth-shaped balloon that was in the back parking lot. James was next to it and was getting his stuff out.

"Hi, Jessie," James said.

"I… I heard you got fired," Jessie said.

"Mmm-hmm," James nodded.

Jessie's lip trembled as she said, "I didn't think I'd get this emotional, but…" Jessie burst into tears, "…I'm gonna miss you!"

"Don't cry, Jessie," James condoled, "We may not be able to work together, but we can still be friends…."

Jessie's eyes slowed their emission of tears, "I guess you're right, but still…" The two of them hugged each other.

"Hey, maybe you two shouldn't ever tease Ash and Misty again."

Jessie and James, still hugging, turned to see Meowth standing behind Jessie.

"That's not funny, Meowth," James said.

"Nope, just logical," Meowth said. He got a little more sincere, "I just wanted to tell you that…Jessie isn't the only one who's gonna miss you…"

They all started crying again as Jessie and Meowth hugged James.

"I just wish I had some men's clothes…" James broke away from the group hug and lifted a suitcase and a pink two-two from the balloon.

"Just wear the most casual dress you can find, along with the matching wig and shoes," Jessie said, "and head down to the department store."

"Yep," Meowth said. James finish packing his clothes and other stuff. 

"Well, I gotta go," he said and hugged them each again and walked off as the sun set.

"Bye!" Jessie called, "We'll see ya around!"

As James walked backward and waved, one more tear rolled out of Jessie's eye.

Chapter 16 (5)

Ash and Pikachu entered the Pokémon Center as it started getting dark.

"Back all ready?" Nurse Joy asked, taking Pikachu and Ash's Pokéballs, "Did you win?"

"Yep," Ash said proudly. 

Nurse Joy began treating Ash's Pokémon. After a minute or so, she frowned.

"Is there something wrong?" Ash asked.

"Maybe…" Joy said. She opened one of Ash's Pokéballs. Bulbasaur sat on the counter and looked nauseous.

"Bulb…" Bulbasaur moaned, "Bulb-a, bulb-a-saur…"

"Chan-see!" Chansey waddled over with a stethoscope on. She put the end of it on Bulbasaur's bulb.

"What's wrong Chansey?" Joy asked.

"Chan-see. Chansey-Chan-see! See-Chansey!"

"Bulb!" Bulbasaur exclaimed.

"Oh, my…" Joy said.

"How come you can't tell what's wrong?" Ash asked.

Joy looked surprised; "You understood what Chansey said?"

"Yeah," Ash said, "She said that She doesn't know what's wrong. Isn't there a way to tell?"

"We're trying," Joy explained, "This has never happened."

"Bulbasaur…" Ash murmured.

"Saur…" Bulbasaur sniffled. 

Chapter 17 (6)

"The opening in the top of its bulb is bigger than it should be," Joy said. The opening was about quarter-sized.

"I've never noticed a real opening there before," Ash noted.

"Most of the time, you shouldn't see it," Joy said, "Has anyone been messing with Bulbasaur's bulb?"

"I don't think so," Ash said, "It usually stays in its Pokéball."

"Hmm," Joy shined a light through the opening.

"Saur?" Bulbasaur questioned.

"What's it look like in there?" Ash asked.

"Like the inside of a partially opened flower," Joy described. She let Ash look inside.

"Saur…?" Bulbasaur asked a bit more anxiously than before.

"It's okay," Joy patted his head, "I'd say… that Bulbasaur is going to evolve soon!"

"Bah!" Bulbasaur's eyes bugged out.

"But I don't think Bulbasaur wants to evolve," Ash said.

"Hmm," Joy thought, "I've never heard of a plant Pokémon that didn't evolve sooner or later."

"I don't care if Bulbasaur evolves or not," Ash said, "I just want it to be happy."

"I can see what level it's at," Joy said. She picked Bulbasaur up and carried it into the next room. Ash followed. There was a large silver machine in the room.

"I saw one of those at Bill's house," Ash said.

"Bill who?" Joy asked.

"The Pokémon Researcher that lives in a lighthouse," Ash said.

"Oh," Joy said, "Scientists are trying to improve this machine enough to make it part of a trainer's PokéDex."

"This thing measures a Pokémon's experience level?" Ash asked, "That'd be nice to have."

"Okay," Joy placed Bulbasaur on the machine and plugged it in. After a few seconds of flashing, the machine revealed Bulbasaur's level as 67.

"Is that high?" Ash asked.

"Definitely," Joy said, "That's so high for a Bulbasaur, that maybe this gadget is broken."

"Chansey?" Chansey came in. 

"I remember that Chansey was level 26," Joy said. She handed Bulbasaur to Ash and put Chansey on the machine. She was at level 26. She looked at Bulbasaur and seemed a little jealous.

"It's okay," Joy assured Chansey, "You don't battle; you're a nurse."

"Chansey!" Chansey, seeming a little more upbeat, hopped back to the floor.

"If Bulbasaur's that strong, it could have already evolved into Venusaur," Joy explained, "Pokémon don't usually have to evolve once they're adults, but plants have to grow. If Bulbasaur doesn't get better, it may have to evolve."

Ash sighed. Bulbasaur pouted.

"Whether it evolves or not," Joy said, "make sure it gets lots of sun and lots of water… If it absolutely _has_ to evolve, please, let it."

"Okay," Ash said. They went back to the waiting room and decided to stay at the Center for the night because it was already dark.

Ash stretched out on four of the chairs. Pikachu laid on his chest. Bulbasaur curled up them. 

__

I hope Bulbasaur will be okay… Ash thought while he tried to sleep.

****

Part 3: Pika-prattle-power and Bulbasaur's Flower

Chapter 18 (1)

Ash and his Pokémon got up the next morning, said goodbye to Nurse joy and Chansey, and left the Pewter Pokémon Center. Galacteon came out of his Pokéball and was filled in on the situation by Pikachu.

"I remember Nurse Joy saying that Bulbasaur needed lots of sunlight," Ash said, looking at Bulbasaur, "and we have to get to Cerulean City by way of Route 4. We're on Route 3. We have to go through Mt. Moon to get to Route 4, but I doubt that there's any sunlight in there."

"Do we have to go over it?" Galacteon asked.

"I don't know," Ash said and took out his map, "I think that Route 3 goes northeast and Route 4 heads southeast. So we should be able to get to the middle of Route 4 by going straight east." He pointed.

"That's north," Galacteon pointed out.

"Oh," Ash said, "Anyway, there's no route there. I'm not even sure there are any little trails."

"[Wouldn't be dangerous?]" Bulbasaur asked.

"It's dangerous to do the opposite of what Nurse Joy says too," Ash pointed out, "Plus since you're sick, I don't think it's a good idea to try to climb over Mt. Moon."

"[Good point,]" Bulbasaur sighed.

"[What's the terrain like?]" Pikachu asked.

"Remember that it may be poorly charted," Galacteon said.

"It looks like there's a forest at first," Ash said, "Then it thins out about a third of the way to Route 4. Then it stops completely about halfway there. Then it's grassland."

"[Great,]" Pikachu said.

"Let's go!" Ash said, then hesitated. He looked at Galacteon.

"East is to your left," Galacteon said.

"Great," Ash turned left and started walking. Pikachu, Galacteon, and Bulbasaur followed. The wide dirt trail of Route 3 was left behind. It was only a few feet before the forest started. The trees seemed to rise up like claws. Ash gulped.

"Pika…?" Pikachu quivered.

"It's okay," Ash insisted, "Let's go!" He walked under the first layer of trees and everything got darker, "Is the forest this thick, or is it nighttime already?"

"It's thick," Galacteon said worryingly.

"Oh-oh-oh!" 

"What was that?!" Ash demanded.

"Pi. Ka-chu…" Pikachu murmured.

"Pik's right," Galacteon said, "We should just try and get through here as fast as possible."

"Right," Ash said, "We shouldn't waste our energy, so just walk really fast." They walked as fast as possible.

"Oh-Ota!" they heard.

"I think—" Galacteon stopped and whipped his head around.

"What?" Ash asked.

"I think that there's something in that bush," Galacteon said.

A Hoohoo flew out of the bush and disappeared into the trees. 

"Just a Hoohoo," Ash said, "That's good."

"I was about to say that this place is getting way too creepy," Galacteon said, "Maybe we should stop walking and—"

Some more bushes rustled. A black four-legged creature stepped out. It was about Galacteon's size, but to the wandering group, it looked a lot bigger than it was.

"—RUN!" Galacteon finished a bit more loudly than he'd first intended.

"Right!" Ash cried. They bolted eastward through the trees. The big black Pokémon looked confused and made no attempt to follow them. It went back into the bushes. 

Ash and his Pokémon were still running through trees that were about two feet apart. Pikachu, being a forest Pokémon, seemed to be the only one who had it easy. Galacteon moved along fairly well because of his good dark-vision. The two of them had to keep waiting for Ash and Bulbasaur.

"Let's…stop…and rest… a minute," Ash gasped. He stopped and put his hands on his knees for balance. His Pokémon ran up to him.

"I think that that big black think is gone," Galacteon said.

"Great; we lost it," Ash said.

"Pi?" Pikachu's ears twitched.

"What is it, Pikachu?" Ash asked.

"Pika?" Pikachu wondered. He seemed confused.

"Bulb-a," Bulbasaur said.

"I hope—" Ash was interrupted by a loud high-pitched screech.

"Pika?!" Pikachu cried.

"What was that?" Galacteon demanded.

"It sounded like something screamed…" Ash whimpered.

Chapter 19 (2)

James, who now wore sneakers, blue jeans, and a red T-shirt and carried a suit case, got off a large boat that had come to an island. The first thing that he and the boat's other passengers saw was a big jade-green sign with fancy gold letters that said, "Welcome to Jade Island." There were more professional words written smaller below the welcome that said the population, size, and founding date of Jade City.

"Well, they're sure nice here," James thought, "but I still wish that I could have stowed away on that ferry instead of having to spend so much money on it. It's not like I'm getting paid now." He sighed, "If I can catch some of the Pokémon that live on this island and give them to Giovanni, maybe I can get my job back…."

He walked around the streets of the quaint little town until his legs got tired. He sat on a bench outside of a large building and a Pokémon Center.

"I miss having an aerial view," James thought, "How should I go about catching Pokémon?"

"Excuse me?"

"Huh?" James turned to see a woman standing behind him. She had glasses, a lab coat, and dark red hair that was pulled up. She looked about forty or so.

"Are you here for a Pokémon?" she asked.

"I- I guess," James said.

"You guess?" the lady asked, "That's new. Are you here to start Pokémon training? The little kids are just leaving, and all the teenagers shouldn't be here for another hour. Are you just early? I can give you your Pokémon now if you'd like."

__

This kook's going to give me a Pokémon? James thought; he said, "Yeah, I'm early. I was hoping to beat the crowd. I'm kinda shy."

"Okay, that's fine. I can have you all set and ready to go before the others get here," she said, "Oh, sorry. Where are my manners? If you don't already know, I'm Professor Rose."

"Nice to meet you," James said and shook her hand, "I'm James."

"Come with me, James," Prof. Rose led him into the large building. It appeared to be a lab. They entered a room with four Pokéballs on a round table. They were spread out evenly and had a lot of extra space between them.

"What are these?" James asked.

"These are the Pokémon you can choose from," Prof. Rose said. She tapped them one at a time as she said their names and the Pokémon came out, "There's Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, and Chicorita. You can have one, but choose carefully. A trainer's first Pokémon is very important."

__

She doesn't know that I already have three, _and I don't plan to tell her,_ James thought, _Which one of these is best? Squirtle can swim. Grass types are very useful. Charmander evolves to Charizard eventually. Though I already have Victreebel, so I should get Squirtle or Charmander._

"Tough choice, huh?" Prof. Rose asked.

"You don't have a Pikachu?" James asked.

Prof. Rose seemed surprised, "Well, I have one I can give you, but she's just a baby. Electric types are hard to train."

"But I know a kid who had a Pikachu for his first Pokémon," James said, "They're best friends, and that Pikachu is powerful."

"Well," Prof. Rose said, "If you're sure a Pikachu is what you want, come with me."

"Great," James smiled. He followed Prof. Rose to another room. There was a short fence around something that was like a very large indoor flowerbed. About thirty feet on all sides, the "flowerbed" contained mostly grass. Yet it had three bushes, some randomly placed daisies, one small tree, a big basket full of apples, and some Pokémon. Most of the Pokémon were very small. There were Pichus, Buubiis, Piis, Purpurins, an Oddish, two Weedles, three Caterpies, and a fluffy Pidgey. The only full-sized Pokémon was a single Wigglytuff that was the height of the fence.

"Wig!" the Wigglytuff greeted.

"Hello, Wigglytuff," Prof. Rose said. She examined the pen, "Where's the Pikachu?"

"Wiggle…" Wigglytuff walked over to the tree and kicked it. 

"Pika!" a small Pikachu came falling out of the tree. Wigglytuff caught it and carried it to Prof. Rose.

"Here's a Pikachu for you," Prof. Rose said, "Are you sure it's what you want?"

"Yes," James carefully took the Pikachu from Prof. Rose.

"Chu?" went the Pikachu's tiny voice.

James smiled and said, "It's absolutely perfect…"

"What's your last name?" Prof. Rose asked, "I can make you a PokéDex."

"Kojiro," James said, distracted by examining the Pikachu. He slapped himself on the forehead and thought, _I shouldn't have given her my real last name!_

"Pi-Pikachu?" the Pikachu questioned.

"Smile," Prof. Rose held up a Polaroid and took a picture of James. He was smiling awkwardly because he wasn't really ready for the picture. After a few minutes of fiddling around with a PokéDex that was in several pieces, Prof. Rose put it together and handed it to James.

"Thanks," James said.

"No problem," Prof. Rose said, "Since the newspaper people wanted to know, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't you become a trainer when you were younger? It would have been easier."

"Back then… I wasn't really into Pokémon," James stuttered.

"Pi-ka," the Pikachu said.

"Here's a Pokéball for your little mouse," Prof. Rose said, giving him six Pokéballs, "and some spares. Have a nice journey."

"Goodbye, thank you," James said.

"Call me occasionally," Prof. Rose said.

"Wigglytuff!" Wigglytuff said.

"Pi-ka-pika," said the Pikachu.

Chapter 20 (3)

"It sounded like something screamed…" Ash whimpered.

The scream occurred a few more times, each one louder than the last. They seemed to be coming from different directions. Out of the shadows of the trees came five Victreebels. They surrounded Ash and the Pokémon. The screams had been their screechy voices.

"Victreebels!" Galacteon cried, "Is this a bad thing?"

"Victreebel, a flycatcher Pokémon," Dexter said, "It evolves from Weepinbell. Scientists believe that they have large colonies deep within forests—"

"Without doubt," Galacteon muttered.

"—of course, no one has ever returned from there," Dexter finished as more Victreebels arrived.

"Pika!" Pikachu cried.

"Does that answer your question?" Ash asked Galacteon.

"Yeah, I'd say this is in the "bad things" category," Galacteon agreed.

"[Do you think they're hungry?]" Pikachu questioned.

"[Maybe…]" Bulbasaur said.

"Stay calm," Ash said, "They look intelligent. I'm sure we talk about this. The PokéDex said it was a flycatcher. Maybe it only eats flies."

"[They look intelligent to you?]" Pikachu asked.

"Quiet!" Ash snapped.

"Think of the all the flies that a Pokémon that big would have to eat," Galacteon said, "It seems unlikely that that would be their only source of protein."

"Good point," Ash said, "Are they going to attack?"

"Could be," Galacteon said, "but they haven't yet."

A Victreebel screeched and used Vine Whip. It missed his paws by about an inch.

"Pika-pi?" Pikachu asked.

"Lunar and Electric are all weak versus Grass…" Ash thought, "Bulbasaur, go! Razor Leaf!"

"Saur!" Bulbasaur jumped forward and shot his leaves at the closest Victreebel. It looked weaker, but it and the others attacked at once. Bulbasaur Tackled the one he'd attack before and knocked it out. He began the same technique one the others.

"Bulbasaur, look out!" Ash cried as a large Victreebel came up behind Bulbasaur. It used Wrap, and Ash was forced to use his Pokéball to return Bulbasaur.

"I can get it!" Galacteon said.

"Hit it with Slash!" Ash ordered.

"Heya!" Galacteon ran up and sliced at the biggest Victreebel with his star-blade. He jumped out of the way to avoid its attack, but another Victreebel knocked him out with Razor Leaf. Ash, trying to guard his other Pokémon, got scratched up by the leaves as well.

Ash said, "Pikachu, Thunder!"

"Pi…ka…" Pikachu jumped out and charged up, "CHU!"

Several Victreebels were fried, along with Ash. Pikachu used Thunder as much as possible and knocked many Victreebels out. One of the Victreebels used Wrap on Ash. Pikachu used Thunderbolt to fry it, and Ash pushed it away. He began to use Thunder Shock when he was low on electricity. Along with a shriek, the biggest Victreebel sprayed Pikachu with Sleep Powder. 

Pikachu fell over and went to sleep. Ash, still blackened, picked Pikachu up and fiddled with the buttons on his PokéDex.

"Go, Muk!" Ash called, throwing the newly appearing Pokéball.

"MUK!" Muk cried after appearing.

"Muk, Body Slam!" Ash commanded, "Aim for the big one!"

"Muk," Muk squashed the biggest Victreebel, but it managed to throw him off.

"Sludge!" Ash cried.

"M-Muk!" Muk said. He shot sludge at the eyes of the Victreebel. It fell over and didn't get up. All of the others looked surprised. They ran off.

"Way to go, Muk!" Ash praised, "That big one must have been their leader and—"

"MUK!" Muk tried to hug Ash, but knocked him over and squished him.

"Hey, hey! Cut it out!" Ash laughed. He returned Muk to his Pokéball. Carrying Pikachu, he hurried out of the forest. Despite looking like he'd been shoved throw a garbage disposal, he ran as far as he could go: to the eastern edge of the woodland. He stood against one of the scattered trees and gasped for breath.

"Pi…ka…" Pikachu mumbled quietly, still sleeping.

"It's okay, Pikachu," Ash said, mostly trying to assure himself. The remaining path east appeared to be marshlands, despite the map saying grasslands. Ash started walking again. Before he'd taken three steps, he stumbled and fell to his knees. He got halfway up before hearing a screech and a snap. Something struck his arm and sent him sprawling. Pikachu rolled away unharmed.

Ash got to a kneeling position to face the attacker: one more Victreebel. He ducked to dodge the next Vine Whip.

"Pika-Pikachu, pika," Ash said, "[We're all friends here, right?]"

The Victreebel looked confused, but it hit Ash again. Ash was thrown into a tree trunk. He stumbled up again and was hit by Victreebel's Stun Spore. Paralyzed, he fell down onto the pine needles.

"I can't move," Ash moaned. 

Up in a tree, an Ootachi watch the event. Several Otachi were with it. They were confused by Ash's Pokémon speech. Any human that could do that was worth saving.

"Ootachi!" Ootachi leaped from the tree and stood between the Victreebel and Ash. Victreebel had been trying to eat him and was annoyed by Ootachi's arrival. It screeched at the opposition. At Ootachi's command, the Otachi jumped down and surrounded Ash. Ash was too dizzy to tell what was happening.

"Ootachi!" Ootachi scorned, "Ta-chi, Ootachi. Chi, chi!"

"Chi!" the Otachi group said.

After a moment of consideration, Victreebel hopped away angrily. Ootachi smiled, turned around, and poked at Ash's head. Seeing that Ash, who was face down on the dirt, didn't move, Ootachi said something to one of the Otachi.

Otachi bounded away.

Chapter 21 (4)

James was exploring the prairie area around the edges of Jade City. Kitsy was on his head. Weezing and Victreebel followed behind him. He carried the Pikachu in one hand and his suit case in the other.

"Maybe I should give you a nickname," James said to the Pikachu, "That way I don't get you mixed up with the twerp's Pikachu."

"Pi-ka," the Pikachu said.

"I'll have to think about that one," James said.

"Cha…" the Pikachu yawned. 

"Wee-ee," Weezing said.

"Fine, we'll rest," James accepted. They all sat on the grass.

"Chu. Pika-pika?" the Pikachu poked curiously at the suitcase.

"I'm only lugging that thing around until I get a backpack," James said.

"Pi," the Pikachu opened the suitcase by accident. She looked at the stuff inside. The first things that she started examining were a cheap-looking CD player and a CD.

"That's just some crummy Christmas music," James explained, "Do you want to listen to it? Maybe if I get my job back, I can buy some more CDs, because that's the only one I have."

"Chu?" 

"Here," James put the CD in the CD player and pushed, "PLAY."

"¯ Rudolf, the red nosed reindeer!¯ "

"PIKA!" cried the alarmed Pikachu. After calming down, she poked at the CD player and accidentally changed the track.

"¯ Silent night…¯ "

"Chu…" the Pikachu muttered bitterly. She pushed the button to change the track again.

"¯ Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle all the way!¯ "

"Pika-chu!" the Pikachu said happily. She did her best to sing along, "Pika Chu! Pika Chu! Pika pi ka Chu!"

"M-mew!" Kitsy said happily.

When "Jingle Bells" was over, the CD player played "Jingle Bell Rock." All four Pokémon seemed to like the song, but the Pikachu looked frustrated when "Frosty, the Snowman" began playing.

"I guess you only like songs with jingle bells," James said, "Maybe we can call you Jingle Bells, or just Bell."

"Chu," the Pikachu said disapprovingly. 

"Okay," James said.

"Wee-ee," Weezing said.

"So no one likes it?" James thought, "Oh, well."

"Mew?" Kitsy climbed onto the CD player and accidentally turned it off. 

The Pikachu seemed happy. She sang, "¯ Pika-pika pi ka Pika Pi-ka-chu!¯ "

"What song is that?" James wondered. The Pikachu repeated it. James realized, "Oh, ¯ everybody needs a little KFC!¯ "

"Pika!" the Pikachu said.

"Where'd you hear that?" James asked, "You like advertisement jingles?"

"Pi," she said, not really answering the question.

"Jingles?" James wondered.

"Pika!" the Pikachu said happily.

"You're Jingles?" James asked.

She considered, then jumped up and down saying, "Pika! Pika! Pika! CHU!"

"Mew-mew! MEW!" Kitsy said.

"Pi-KA!" Jingles said.

"Great," James said, "Why don't we find a battle for you?"

"Chu!" Jingles agreed. James packed the CD and CD player back into the suitcase and started looking around the field for Pokémon. He saw something brown moving in the distance. 

"There's something!" he said. They got closer to the Pokémon and found that it was an Eevee, "Jingles, go!"

"Pika-PIKA!" Jingles jumped over to the Eevee, who seemed a little confused.

"Thunderbolt!" James ordered.

"Chu?" Jingles questioned.

"Okay, Thunder Shock," James accepted.

"Pika-CHU!" Jingles fried the Eevee fairly well. Though weakened, it Tackled her. She used Thunder Shock again.

"Eh-wee…" moaned the now-feeble Eevee. James threw a Pokéball at it. The Eevee was sucked into the Pokéball. The Pokéball wobbled a few seconds and stayed still.

"Alright!" James called.

"Pika-pika!" Jingles exclaimed, "Pika, chu!" 

"Good job, Jingles," James said.

"Pi-ka-chu!" Jingles said happily.

"Let's go find some more Pokémon," James said.

"Pika!" Jingles agreed. They searched around and found a Mankey. Jingles battled it, and James caught it. "Ka-chu!" Jingles said.

"Way to go!" James said.

A Sandshrew was next. Jingles's Thunder Shock didn't work on it, and she wasn't fast enough to successfully use Quick Attack. The Sandshrew's Slash knocked her out.

"Cha!" Jingles moaned.

"You little rat!" James exclaimed to the Sandshrew as he returned Jingles to her Pokéball, "Go, Kitsy!"

"M-Mew-mew!" Kitsy mewed. She jumped over to Sandshrew.

"Kitsy, use…uh…" James stuttered, "any attack you know!"

"Mew?" Kitsy wondered. She was hit by Sandshrew. "MEW!"

"Are you okay?" James picked her up.

"Mew?" Kitsy regained her senses. She sniffled and broke into tears, "ME-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-W!"

"Ahh!" James cried, alarmed by her outburst, "Return, Kitsy. Victreebel, Vine Whip that thing!"

Victreebel screeched and whipped the Sandshrew. James caught it.

Chapter 22 (5)

"O-TA-chi!" the Otachi hopped back over to Ash, Pikachu, Ootachi, and the other Otachi. It carried a large dark-green leaf that had jagged edges. It gave the leaf to Ootachi.

"Chi-chi," Ootachi thanked. He and some of the Otachi rolled Ash over. Ash was still dizzy and half-conscious. He blinked and tried to focus his vision, but everything looked blurry. Ootachi covered his mouth up to make him breathe through his nose, then waved the leaf in his face. 

"Hey!" Ash turned his head away from Ootachi and struggled to sit up, "That stinks."

"Ooh?" Ootachi wondered.

"Pi-ka…?" Pikachu started to wake up.

"Pikachu?" Ash wondered.

"Pika-pi!" Pikachu jumped into Ash's lap.

"Ta-chi?" Ootachi questioned. He circled Ash and seemed to be examining him.

"Chu?" Pikachu wondered.

"Oo-ta?" Ootachi seemed confused, "Ta-chi?"

"Uh, thanks for your help," Ash said.

"Chi…" Ootachi drooped and looked disappointed.

"What's wrong?" Ash asked. 

"Ooh…." 

"[What's wrong?]" Ash repeated in Pikachu language. 

"Oota-CHI!" Ootachi instantly cheered up and hugged Ash's arm.

"Uh, [Nice to meet you too,]" Ash said, not knowing what else to say.

"Otachi!" the group of Otachi began jumping up and down excitedly.

"[Maybe they're exited by a human that can speak Pokémon,]" Pikachu suggested.

"Guess so," Ash said.

Ootachi and the Otachi used rocks to crunch up leaves and berries. They used that, which was now a liquid, to heal all of Ash's Pokémon. 

"[Thanks for your help,]" Ash said, "[We'll see you around.]"

"Oo-TA-chi!" Ootachi said.

"Bye-bye!" Galacteon said.

"Pika-chu!"

"Bulb-a!"

Ash and his Pokémon continued on their way. They trudged through the puddles of the marsh until they found a small relatively dry hill to spend the night on.

"My fur is getting muddy," Galacteon said bitterly.

"Sorry," Ash said, "This is the least muddy place there is."

Less than three seconds after that was said, it started raining.

"Pika…" Pikachu muttered angrily.

"It's just water," Ash said miserably, "Try to go to sleep."

"Fine," Galacteon said. He sighed.

"Squirt!" Squirtle proceeded in spitting out more water. 

"Hope you get well soon, Bulbasaur," Ash said.

"Saur," Bulbasaur said.

Later everyone managed to sleep. The rain slowed to a slight sprinkle, then stopped completely. Pikachu rolled around a lot in his sleep and became coated with mud. The rain made Bulbasaur's bulb wiggle oddly.

The sun rose and the clouds cleared. The sun made Bulbasaur's bulb wiggle more. Bulbasaur stirred a little and continued sleeping. The bulb glowed. Later Bulbasaur was the first to awaken.

"BULBASAUR!" Bulbasaur cried, alarmed.

"Chu?" Pikachu woke up. He looked at Bulbasaur and gasped, "Pi-ka-chu!"

Chapter 23 (6)

James returned Weezing and Victreebel and carried Jingles to the Pokémon Center.

"Good as new!" Nurse Joy said, "Young Pokémon like this should be brought to the Pokémon Center a little more often."

"Okay, thank you," James said. He let Jingles out to walk around. When they walked outside, a little boy ran by. He dropped a thin paperback book but didn't notice. James ignored the fact and started back toward the prairie, but Jingles picked up the book and flipped through its pages as she walked. It was titled Tongue Twisters. 

"Pika-pika pika pika pika pika," she said, "Pi-cur Piker pika-pika pi-cull pi-cur."

"What are you doing?" James asked.

"Pi-cur Pie…per p-pick-ta… pick-a pi-cull… p-peeper," Jingles stuttered.

James shrugged.

"Peek-tour Pie-per pick-ta pack-a pi-cull peeper," Jingles continued, "Peek-t-err…Peter…Peter Piper picked ta pack of pickle pep-pepper-Th-Shh-Ss…"

"What?!" James exclaimed, stopping and turning to Jingles.

"If-f Peter Piper picked a pack of pickle peppers," Jingles read, "W-w-where's the pack of pickle peppers Peter Piper picked?"

"You can talk?!" James asked.

"T-t-talk?" Jingles wondered, "Pika-pika-talk?"

"Wow," James thought, "Don't put too much intelligence into that though. Make sure you can still learn attacks normally."

"Learn attack," Jingles said, "O-okay. Chu?"

"Great," James said, "You up for another battle?"

"Hey, you're a trainer?"

"Yes," James looked up and saw a tall snobby-looking guy.

"How 'bout a battle?" the guy asked snidely, "Your little baby Pikachu versus my Pikachu?"

"Pika!" Jingles said, "N-not b-b-b-bay-b-by…."

"I accept your challenge," James said. They went out into the field to battle. James ordered, "Jingles, go!"

"M-me go!" Jingles leaped forward and stood battle-ready.

"Go, Shocker!" the guy ordered and threw a Pokéball.

"Pika-chu…" Shocker, the Pikachu, said. It looked like it had been in a lot of battles. This was because it looked a little injured, not because it looked experienced.

"Jingles, Thunder Shock," James said.

"Shock!" Jingles jumped toward Shocker.

"Shocker, Thunder_bolt_!" the guy ordered. Shocker stumbled and tried to attack, but only a few sparks flew. Jingles ran up and shocked Shocker with as much electricity as she could muster. 

"Cha…!" Shocker squealed. He fell over and twitched.

"Get up, you weakling!" the guy ordered.

"Pi…" Shocker stood up shakily. Jingles pushed on his nose and he fell back over.

"Guess I win," James said.

"Shocker, you idiot!" the guy yelled. He kicked him.

"Cha…!" Shocker shrieked in pain.

"You can't win anything!" the guy yelled at Shocker, "Stay out my sight, you runt!"

"Pi…ka…chu?" Shocker questioned weakly as the guy stormed off.

"H-hurt?" Jingles stuttered.

"Maybe it's not weak," James said, "Maybe it's just been in too many battles and hasn't had any rest."

"Pokémon Cent-t-err?" Jingles asked.

"I guess," James picked up Shocker. They carried him to the Pokémon Center. 

Nurse Joy looked surprised. She demanded, "What happened to that poor Pikachu?"

"It lost a battle," James said, "So its trainer kicked it and left it in the field."

"The poor thing…" Joy said. She took Shocker and carried it into another room. A few minutes later, she came out. Shocker looked healthy, but tired. Joy sat him on the countertop.

"Chu…" he said tiredly.

"Pi-ka?" Jingles asked.

"Ka-chu," Shocker said.

Jingles paused thoughtfully, then held up her book and exclaimed, "Pickle!"

"Pi-ka?!" Shocker demanded, "Pee-ka…pee-cull…Pick-cull…pickle?"

"Pack of pickle peppers?" Jingles said.

"Pick-pack o' pickle Peep-pep-earth, peppers," Shocker stuttered.

"Peter Piper picked a pack of pickle peppers," Jingles said skillfully.

Shocker repeated it haltingly.

"Where's that pack of pickle peppers Peter Piper picked?"

"Oo-woo-WA-who, Where-Th where's…" Shocker said, "the pack of pickle peppers Peter Piper picked."

"Pi-KA!" Jingles said happily. She flipped through the book and read, "'She shells she shells… She sells sea sells…She sells seashells b-b-by the she shore…sea sore…seashore!"

"Shh," Shocker put his paws on his head, symbolizing exasperation.

"Pi-hee-hee-hee!" Jingles giggled.

"Those two are becoming friends fast," Joy said.

"Uh-huh," James commented.

"Maybe you should keep this Pikachu," Joy said.

"Sure!" James said. He tossed an empty Pokéball at Shocker. The Pikachu went in without resistance. He came back out once he was officially caught.

"Pika!" he said.

"B-b-battle!" Jingles suggested enthusiastically.

"Okay," James said, "If you insist…"

Chapter 24 (7)

"BULBASAUR!" Bulbasaur cried, alarmed.

"Chu?" Pikachu woke up. He looked at Bulbasaur and gasped, "Pi-ka-chu!"

"Huh?! What?!" Galacteon woke up startled. He looked at Bulbasaur, squeaked in surprised, then pushed on Ash's shoulder.

Ash stirred and rolled over.

"Pika-CHU!" Pikachu woke Ash up with Thunder Shock.

"What's wrong?!" Ash demanded. He looked at Bulbasaur and gaped. He got up and circled the Pokémon. He was trying to make sure it was really Bulbasaur…

"Bulb-A-saur?" Bulbasaur questioned almost desperately. His bulb had opened into a flower. It had light-yellow petals and three red fuzzy things poking up in the center. There were smooth-edged leaves that curved to a soft point sticking out from beneath the flower.

"Did Bulbasaur evolve?" Galacteon asked.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle wondered.

"Are you still Bulbasaur?" Ash asked.

"Bulbasaur," Bulbasaur said.

"Sounds like Bulbasaur," Ash took out his PokéDex and held it up to Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon," it said. It showed a picture of a Bulbasaur that had a bulb.

"Still a Bulbasaur," Ash said.

"Bulb…" Bulbasaur looked sadly at the flower.

"We need to keep heading to the Pokémon Center," Ash said, "Nurse Joy can check you out."

"Pokémon Center?" said a high-pitched voice.

"Jigglypuff?" Ash turned and saw Doduo and Jigglypuff.

"You're rushing to the Pokémon Center because his bulb bloomed?" Jigglypuff asked, "I've seen that before. It's nothing unusual."

"It's not?" Ash asked.

"Bulbasaur is part plant," Jigglypuff explained, "That thing would have to grow sooner or later. Most of the time, Bulbasaurs evolve and their bulb grows, but if they don't evolve, then _only_ their bulb grows."

"How do you know this?" Ash asked.

"I do more travelling than even you!" Jigglypuff said, "I can go places that the wild Pokémon don't welcome big clumsy humans. I learn these things."

"Are you positive that this flower is safe?" Ash asked.

"Yeah, but…."

"But…?" 

"Most humans have never seen a Bulbasaur with a flower," Jigglypuff explained, "You might want to watch out for Team Rocket just a _teeny-weeny_ bit more than usual. Other than that, don't worry. Most people will be impressed."

"Bulb…" Bulbasaur mumbled.

"Don't be upset Bulbasaur," Ash said, "You get to impress people."

"[What if someone makes fun of you for having a weird Pokémon?]" Bulbasaur asked.

"That means they're confused or jealous," Jigglypuff said. 

Bulbasaur still looked upset. 

"We should keep heading to Cerulean anyway," Ash said.

"Yep!" Galacteon agreed.

"Suit yourselves," Jigglypuff said, "but I have an appointment. Jig-LEE-puff!"

Ash sighed as Doduo ran off.

"Pi-ka…" Pikachu said.

"She's one weird Jigglypuff…" Galacteon commented.

"No kidding," Ash said, "Let's get going." 

They packed up their stuff and continued through the marsh. The ground got so muddy that their feet or paws sank into it. Pikachu had it fairly easy, but Galacteon was in mud up to his knees. He had to walk slow because he needed to lift his legs high with each step.

"Stupid mud…" Galacteon muttered to himself.

"Woah!" Ash exclaimed as he took a few for steps and sank into the mud up to mid-thigh. 

"Bah…" Bulbasaur said. He lifted Ash out of the mud with Vine Whip.

"Thanks Bulbasaur," Ash said, "I'm glad you can still use your attacks."

"Bulb-a," Bulbasaur said. The group continued until the mud and cattails were replaced by dry soil and short grass. The grass disappeared for a few feet in front of them and longer than their vision range on each side.

"This must be Route 4," Galacteon said.

"Yep," Ash agreed.

"Pika!" Pikachu pointed to something on the left. 

"It's a sign," Ash said when they walked up to it. He read, "'To Cerulean City.'"

"Pika-pika-chu!" Pikachu said happily. Bulbasaur shook his flower uncomfortably.

"Seems like your problem is getting worse," Ash said. 

"Hey, look at that," Galacteon said with his head turned up. There was something brown moving through the air.

"[Doduo,]" Pikachu asked, "[Is it Jigglypuff's?]"

"Hey, Jigglypuff!" Galacteon called, "Whatcha doing up there?!"

"Puff?" Jigglypuff looked down from Doduo's back; "[They're still hanging around here?]"

"Do!" Doduo landed.

"Can you people move any slower?!" Jigglypuff demanded.

"Your Doduo can fly so don't give us a hard time," Ash said.

Jigglypuff looked worryingly at Bulbasaur. She sighed, "If you need lift, I suppose we could help you out. But you'll owe me."

"Sure!" Ash said, "but how can you help? Your Pokémon can't carry me."

"In an emergency, sacrifices can be made," Jigglypuff said. She rummaged through the small paper bag on Doduo's back. She took out a piece of candy that had a blue wrapper with yellow triangles.

"How is a piece of candy going to help?" Ash said as Jigglypuff unwrapped the candy.

"Saying the least, it's rare," she winked, broke the little pink candy in half, and gave one half to each of Doduo's heads. Doduo ate the halves. After a moment it began to glow. It got taller, grew an extra head, and stopped glowing. Jigglypuff said, "Wanna make a bet about my Pokémon not being able to carry you?"

"How'd you make it evolve like that?" Ash said, marveling at the Dodrio.

Jigglypuff shrugged, "Hop on, you dolt." She sat on top of Dodrio's center head.

"I miss the good ol' when you didn't know how to talk," Ash said. He got onto Dodrio's back. Bulbasaur sat on his lap and used Vine Whip to make sure Squirtle, who was sitting behind Ash, didn't fall off. Pikachu sat on Ash's head.

"Can you move along side us, Galacteon?" Ash asked.

"Yep," Galacteon nodded.

"Good luck…" Jigglypuff said.

Galacteon frowned. He glowed as he used Focus Energy several times.

"PUFF!" Jigglypuff cried.

"DO!" Dodrio squawked.

"Woah!" Ash screamed in surprise as the bird got its speed up to about 50 mph in the first few steps.

"Hang on tight!" Jigglypuff said.

Chapter 25 (8)

With Galacteon right behind, Dodrio sped toward the Pokémon Center in Cerulean. It moved so fast that a gust of wind was right behind it. This surprised the Cerulean citizens. As they ran past Officer Jenny, her hat was blown off.

"Hey! Get back here!" she cried, "I need to give you speeding ticket!"

"JIGGLY!" Jigglypuff ordered after a few minutes.

"DO!" Dodrio came to a stop so abruptly that all of its riders, save Jigglypuff, were hurled forward by its momentum. They "flew" into the door of the Pokémon Center. The doors were knocked open, and Ash rolled across the tile.

"Weren't in a hurry were ya?" a snide voice asked.

Ash looked up and saw a way-too-familiar face: Gary's.

"Pika…Chu…" Pikachu said, rubbing his head.

"What's going on out here?" Nurse Joy came in from another room. She looked surprised to see Bulbasaur. Dodrio with Jigglypuff walked in.

"What's that thing?" Gary pointed to Bulbasaur.

"Go away; I'm busy," Ash said simply. He got up and handed Bulbasaur to Joy. He said, "Something's wrong with Bulbasaur Can you help it?"

"I'll do my best!" Joy said, taking Bulbasaur, "Now what happened to you?"

"Saur!" Bulbasaur moaned, looking at his flower.

"Oh, wait," Joy, who was now soaked, recalled, "my cousin called and told me about you. Chanseys?!"

"Chansey!" a pair Chanseys came up.

"Go run a scan on Bulbasaur," Joy ordered.

"Chansey!" one Chansey took Bulbasuar and headed into another room.

"Clean up the mess that our visitors made," Joy said to the other Chansey.

"Huh? Oh…sorry…" Ash apologized, seeing the mud that he and his Pokémon had tracked onto the tile. Chansey left and returned with a mop.

"Oh, Prof. Oak wanted you to call him," Joy said to Ash.

"Okay, thanks," Ash said. As Chansey finished mopping, she insisted on wiping off the bottoms of Ash's shoes. When she was done, Ash walked over to the phones to call the Professor.

"Hi, Ash! You got my message!" Prof. Oak said, "I was j—what happened to you?"

Ash could understand why Prof. Oak had asked that. He was wet, muddy, scraped up, and had slightly tattered clothes.

"The carnivorous plants, high voltage, and the mud kinda added up," Ash explained.

"Oh…well your mother told me that you left," Prof. Oak said, "and I was wondering how you're doing so far."

"Not so great," Ash said. Galacteon walked in panting. He was still covered in mud, so he made muddy paw prints on the tile as he walked over to Ash.

"Chan-see!" Chansey, the one that had both the mop _and_ an angry look, stepped in front of him.

"Huh?" Galacteon questioned.

"Chan! See! Chan! See! Chan! See! Chan! SEE!" Chansey cried as she beat Galacteon up with Double Slap. She went over and cleaned up his mess.

"What's wrong?" Prof. Oak asked.

Ash said, "My Pokémon and I were nearly eaten by Victreebels, something…unusual… has happened to Bulbasaur, I got a ride to the Pokémon Center from a Dodrio and a talking Jigglypuff, and—"

"Ooh! Look at the pretty stars!" Galacteon said dizzily.

"—and Galacteon was just battered by a Chansey…" Ash ended.

"Oh," Prof. Oak said, lacking words, "How many badges do you have?"

"One," Ash said.

"I think Gary has three now," Prof. Oak said, "Is he still at that Pokémon Center?"

"Yeah," Ash said.

"Can I talk to him?" Prof. Oak asked.

"Gary?" Ash asked. He gave the phone to him and went to Bulbasaur's room to see how he was doing.

"Bulb-a-saur," Bulbasaur said from frustration. He was turning his head in all directions, trying to get a better look at the thing on his back.

"We'll find you a mirror sometime," Ash said, "Are you feeling okay."

"Saur," Bulbasaur nodded. 

"That's good," Ash said. 

"See! Chansey!" the Chansey said as Joy walked in.

"Let's see," Joy said. She took Chansey's clipboard. After reading it, she looked sad.

"What? What's wrong?" Ash demanded.

"I-I don't know," Joy said sadly. "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong…."

"Bulb-a…" Bulbasaur cried worryingly. 

"Don't worry, buddy," Ash said, trying to comfort his Pokémon, "You remember what Jigglypuff said."

"Saur…" Bulbasaur laid down and started crying slightly. Ash kneeled down and patted his head. He eyes got teary, but he tried not to cry. He carried Bulbasaur into the waiting room.

"That's not something to get all emotional about," Gary said laughingly, having gotten off the phone, "Just catch another Grass type and release that one."

"BULBASAUR!" Bulbasaur cried, bursting out in tears. 

"…and you call _me_ stupid," Ash said to Gary.

"I'd say that thing's just a big baby," Gary said.

"Shut up, Gary," Ash said.

"Why should I?" Gary said snidely, "You're just upset because you train a bunch of freaks-of-nature."

"My Pokémon aren't freaks!" Ash said, standing up. 

"Judging by the look of that one," Gary indicated Bulbasaur, "you're too optimistic."

"Bulb," Bulbasaur murmured.

"Pika…" Pikachu's cheeks flashed.

"I wouldn't…." Galacteon said.

Gary rattled on about flowers, babies, and lack of evolution. Just when Galacteon began to look so angry that Pikachu thought that he wouldn't stop him from attacking Gary, the Star Pokémon's expression changed. It was surprise with a trace of fear. 

"Hit the deck," he whispered to Pikachu. He dragged him beneath the chairs that the people in the waiting room sat on. Dodrio and Jigglypuff stepped out the main door, but kept looking inside. The four Chanseys that were in the room moved behind the counter. Joy, who was at the computer, glanced at Ash and Gary every now and then. She sighed.

"Shut up, Gary," Ash repeated angrily. He didn't make eye contact. Joy ducked out of sight.

"And one more thing," Gary said scornfully.

"I SAID 'SHUT UP!'" Ash screamed. Out of pure anger, he punched Gary in the face. Gary stumbled back, put his hand over his face, and fell onto his butt. Dodrio and Jigglypuff came back in.

"Pi Pika-pi!" Pikachu cheer quietly.

Chapter 26 (9)

"Raichu!" a Chansey carrying a Raichu came in from another room as Gary, who still had his hand over his nose and mouth, sat up.

"Your Raichu is fully recharged," Joy said hastily, coming around from behind the counter, "So now you don't need to be here right now." She shoved Raichu into his arms, helped him up, and started shooing him toward the door. "You're welcome back anytime your Pokémon need help, but they don't right now, so bye-bye." She pushed him out the door. "Hope to see you again!" she closed the door and sighed.

"Pika?" Pikachu said upon seeing the angry look Joy gave Ash. Ash looked a bit nervous.

"I'd kick you out too if your Bulbasaur wasn't in a mysterious medical condition," Joy said, going over and poking him in the chest as she scolded him, "I'm not saying I blame you, but this is a place of HEALING! Not fighting!"

"Yes, ma'am," Ash stammered.

"I knew she wouldn't blame you," Jigglypuff said as Joy went back to her computer, "Some people _should_ be socked in the face every now and then. It might boost his morality."

"Uh, whatever," Ash said.

"Aren't you cute?" she patted Bulbasaur's head as she passed. Bulbasaur blushed.

"Your flower's not so bad now, huh?" Galacteon said.

"Pi-hee-hee-hee!" Pikachu laughed.

Jigglypuff thought to herself, "Bulbasaur finally believes what I said. Guess all's well that ends well."

~~~

Back on Jade Island, James watched his two Pikachus corner and easily beat Slowpoke before he caught it.

"What a day," James thought, "Two Pikachus, a Mankey, a Sandshrew, an Eevee, and a Slowpoke all caught. Now I just gotta use these Pokémon to help Jessie and Meowth out. Now all I need is a Shelder…"


	3. Part 5

A PokéSeries #9

War of Wars  
by Cyllya  
"Part 4: The Safari Zone and the Thunder Badge"

Part 4

Chapter 27 (1)

Ash's Pokémon noticed that Bulbasaur's new flower was acting strangely. They looked outside and saw the sun set as the flower closed into a bud.

"Light activation… That's a unique feature," Galacteon commented. He saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He turned, but it was gone.

"[Where's Jigglypuff and Dodrio?]" Squirtle wondered.

"[They have their own path to follow,]" Pikachu said.

~~~

The next morning, Ash woke up fully refreshed and fairly sane. "Let's head to the gym."

~~~

"Why don't you come back when Misty's here?" Violet advised.

"Aren't you three supposed to be the official gym leaders?" Ash asked.

"We'll give the title to Misty if she stays here permanently," Lily said.

"She called us a while ago," Daisy said, "She should be here in about three days."

"She seems to like battling more than we do anyway," Lily said.

Ash sighed.

"[It's okay; we'll come back in a few days,]" Pikachu said.

"Yeah, but…" Ash began.

"Don't worry," Galacteon suggested, "You can beat her… Unless we're talking hand-to-hand combat. Then you wouldn't stand a chance…"

"That's not what I'm worried about," Ash snapped, "I—"

"[You don't want to beat her because she's your friend?]" Pikachu asked.

"No, that's you," Ash said, "I—"

"You don't want to beat her because she's a little closer than a friend, and you don't want her feelings to be hurt?" Galacteon interrupted, batting his eyes.

"But I—what?!" Ash demanded.

"Hah! Told ya so!" Lily exclaimed to Violet, "You owe me five bucks!"

"What are you talking about?" Ash asked as Violet reluctantly gave Lily five dollars. Daisy used her elbow to poke Lily in the ribs.

"Oh, nothing…" Lily lied.

"Uh-huh," Ash said, "Anyway I just didn't want to loose time by having to come back. I suppose staying here would be worse, so we'll stop by some other time."

"Okay," Daisy said, "See ya later."

Ash said goodbye and headed toward Vermilion City. 

Chapter 28 (2)

"I really wish that boat had less security…" James thought as he floated through the ocean with Jingles, Shocker, and Slowpoke, "but at least my suitcase is waterproof and Slowpoke swims better than Magikarp does."

"Swim?" Jingles asked, "No swim. Only feet."

"Feet?" Shocker wondered.

"Fleet?" Jingles stammered, "Flow-oat?"

"Float—Woah!" James said as a diminutive wave tossed them up a few feet, then back down, "That's it…"

"S-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-w-poke," Slowpoke commented.

"Uh…yeah," James said.

"Cha…" Jingles said dizzily.

"What's wrong?" James asked.

"Th-s-s-s-sick-k," Jingles stuttered.

"Hang in there; I think I see land," James said, pointing toward a small grayish line on the left horizon. Shocker hopped onto James's head to make sure. 

"Pika! L-l-l-land!" he said happily.

"Great," James said, "because Jingles isn't the only one getting seasick…"

"Pika!" Shocker cried again, less happily. Another of the many waves swept them up and down. Shocker lost his footing and fell into the water.

"Shocker!" Jingles cried. She reached for his tail, but was pulled into the waves with him.

"Slowpoke!" James ordered, "Turn around!"

"Pika! Pika!" Jingles cried. She thrashed around and sank like a stone. Shocker was a _slightly_ better swimmer and tried to keep her afloat.

"Weezing, go!" James ordered.

"Wee-ee!" Weezing appeared beneath Shocker and Jingles and floated them safely back to James and Slowpoke.

"Why don't all three of you return?" James said, rendering them back to their Pokéballs.

"S-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-w!" Slowpoke cried. 

"Huh?" James turned his head around and saw a very large wave headed toward him and Slowpoke, "Ahh!"

"P-o-o-o-o-k-e!" Slowpoke cried as the wave picked them up.

"Ooh! Surfing!" James exclaimed. They were on top of the wave. Although they didn't stay up long, in the short time that the wave carried them, they were brought very close to the land James had seen.

"Poke?" Slowpoke questioned nervously.

"Uh-oh…" James muttered. The wave went down and left them hurtling through the air. Slowpoke spun his legs slow at first, then rather fast. They crashed into the sand of the island.

~~~

"Poke? Poke-poke?" 

"Huh?" James moaned.

"Poke? Poke-poke?"

"Slowpoke?" James wondered. He sat up in the sand and shook his head to get it out of his hair.

"Slow," Slowpoke said, "Slow-poke s-l-o-o-o-o-o-w."

"What happened?" James wondered.

"Slowpoke slow-slowpoke-slow," Slowpoke slowly tried to imitate the wave and them crashing to the sand with his hands.

"Oh, so the fall knocked us out?" James asked. 

"P-o-o-o-o-o-k-e," Slowpoke nodded. 

"Yeah," James said, "Good job. Return now."

He returned Slowpoke, stood up, and looked around. His suitcase was only a few feet away. There was seemingly endless sand in one direction and seemingly endless water in the other. There were three scattered palm trees and what appeared to be the remnants of a brick wall near by.

"Hmm…" James thought, "I wonder where this is…" He walked over to the bricks. He gave a small kick to one of the ones that was lying randomly on the ground. It fell into three pieces, not counting that a little of it now looked more like gray sand.

After exploring more of the beach, he found more half-crumbled brick walls. Some of the more intact ones were accompanied by rotted wooden beams. This suggested that these were ruins of buildings. 

"This place is creepy," James thought, "Maybe I can find an old raft or something…" When he did find something that appeared to be a raft, it was to rotted and old to use. James thought, "Swimming didn't seem to be a good idea. Maybe I can use these palm trees to make a raft… or something that floats… Victreebel go!"

Victreebel screeched as it arose from its Pokéball.

"Use Razor Leaf to cut down the palm trees," James ordered. He struggled to get the stubborn Pokémon off of his head before it attacked the tree. Victreebel cut them neatly into logs then hollowed them out. James plugged the end of each log with the first few inches of wood that Victreebel had cut out of it. This trapped air inside to make it float. James tied the logs together with the palm fronds. He said, "Good work, Victreebel!"

Victreebel wrapped his head again. It was assigned as the raft's propeller. Slowpoke's tail acted as the rudder. James and Shocker rowed with branches. Jingles was kept in her Pokéball because she couldn't swim at all.

They used the tiny raft to float north. Victreebel spun the vines of its Vine Whip around behind the boat to make it move. Soon, to everyone's relief, they saw land and floated to it.

"Wow… Fuchsia City," James said as they ditched the raft and walked to the nearest town, "Last time I only saw the gym…. It looked a lot different than this."

The city looked pretty modern. The buildings were pretty tall, though not as tall as places like Saffron and Celadon Cities. James wandered around until he saw a big crowd. He went to investigate.

"MMM!" something squeaked. From the other side of the crowd, a Lapras appeared. It went high into the air as if it was flying. Water sprinkled out behind it and sparkled in the sun. The Lapras fell out of sight and made a huge splash. The crowd applauded. 

"What's that?" James wondered.

"That's a Lapras, boy," someone said. James turned to see a vertically challenged old man.

"I know what the Pokémon is," James said snidely, "I wanted to know why everyone was gawking at it."

"It's talented," the man said, "That there is part of the Safari Zone. The zoo section."

"What other sections are there?" James asked.

"There's the preserve, the Big P. Pokémon Ranch, and the Safari Ball section," said the man.

"Safari Ball section?" James asked.

"That's where you pay to go in and catch all sorts of rare Pokémon with Safari Balls."

"I'll have to go see that," James realized.

"You do that!" the man advised, "I gotta go, kid."

"Maybe Jessie and I were always going to the wrong part of the Safari Zone," James thought, "I'm gonna try to catch a Dratini!"

Chapter 29 (3)

Ash, Pikachu, and Galacteon's trip to Vermilion City was pretty uneventful, and even rather boring. They reached Vermilion early: just in time to be there at the exact moment the gym opened.

"Gee, kid," Lt. Surge said, "I didn't expect to see you back here. I figured you'd get through the Pokémon League easier than you snap your fingers."

"I tried," Ash said.

"If you're looking for a badge," Lt. Surge said, "My daughter Fulgura's the gym leader now. She likes three-on-threes."

"Great," Ash said, "When can I battle her?"

"Right now!" a teenage girl walked into the gym. She was tall and fierce-looking. She had blond hair and hazel eyes. She looked tough. 

"Alright, let's go!" Ash said.

Once in the stadium, the battle opened with Pikachu versus Raichu. It wasn't the same Raichu that Pikachu had battled before.

"You can beat that Raichu, Pikachu!" Ash enthused, "Use Quick Attack!"

"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed. He ran at Raichu.

"Agility!" Fulgura ordered Raichu.

"Rye-rye!" Raichu shouted. He jumped away to avoid Pikachu's attack. Pikachu was fast enough to become a yellow blur as he did a U-turn at astonishing speed and rammed Raichu in the back. Raichu's tail knocked Pikachu aside. 

"Cha!" Pikachu cried. 

"Tail Whip, Pikachu!" Ash ordered.

"Pi-KA!" Pikachu spun on one foot and slapped Raichu in the face with his tail. Raichu wasn't hurt much, just surprised. This gave Pikachu time for a very successful Quick Attack. 

"Chu!" Raichu moaned.

"Thunder!" Fulgura and Ash ordered together.

"CHU!" Pikachu and Raichu yelled. They pressed their cheeks together angrily and let loose all the electricity they had. The lights in the gym flared brightly, then shattered, along with the windows. Light shone through what had been the sun light. The floor crumbled as if a herd of Diglett had just dug by. The trainers of the two mice were electrocuted as well. Fulgura fell to her knees, and Ash stumbled dizzily.

"Pika-pi?" Pikachu asked, stopping his attack.

"Rye-Raichu?" Raichu wondered.

"Keep battling!" Ash and Fulgura commanded.

"Chu!" the mice continued their battle. They began to run out of electricity. They waited for their trainers' commands.

"Quick Attack!" Ash ordered.

Raichu dodged about half of Pikachu's repeated Quick Attacks. Fulgura was still swooning from the electricity that had hit her. She was too dizzy to tell Raichu what to do.

"Pi-ka-CHU!" Pikachu cried victoriously as Raichu was knocked out.

"Raichu, return," Fulgura returned him and threw her next Pokéball. She had regained her senses and was completely ready to continue the battle.

"Volt-ORB!"

"A Voltorb?!" Ash questioned.

"Pika!" Pikachu challenged.

"Voltorb! Paralyze Pikachu with Thunder Wave!" Fulgura yelled.

"Volt-orb!" Voltorb obeyed.

"Cha!" Pikachu cried. He stood frozen.

"Tackle!" Fulgura said.

"Volt!" Voltorb slammed into the paralyzed Pikachu.

"Cha!" Pikachu cried. He was knocked into the air. Ash caught him.

"Pikachu!" Ash said, "Go, Galacteon!"

Galacteon yipped and jumped into battle. He hit Voltorb with Moonbeam. The force of the attack shot Voltorb into the far wall. It ricocheted back at Galacteon.

"Explosion!" Fulgura ordered.

"VOLTORB!" Voltorb hit Galacteon, knocked him back, glowed, and blew up.

Chapter 30 (4)

"Gah…" Galacteon whimpered.

"Voltorb, return!" Fulgura ordered.

"Grrr…" Galacteon stood up and growled.

Fulgura looked frustrated, "That thing's got a lot of spunk…" She sent her next Pokémon, Go…Jolteon!"

"Jolt! Jolt! Jolt!" Jolteon barked. Galacteon growled louder.

"Pin Missile!" Fulgura ordered.

"Teon!" Jolteon fired pins at Galacteon, who dodged most of them. 

"Mega Moonbeam," Ash instructed.

"Heya!" Galacteon cried as Jolteon was knocked across the room.

"Thunderbolt!" Fulgura directed.

"JOLT!" Jolteon exclaimed as he carried out the command.

"Eon…" Galacteon whimpered. His legs collapsed beneath him. He struggled back up and faced Jolteon. After a moment of glaring, Galacteon fell to his side.

"Jolt…EON!" Jolteon howl victoriously.

"Galacteon, return!" Ash said, "Go, Bulbasaur!"

"SAUR!" Bulbasaur cried.

"…What's that thing?" Fulgura asked.

"Bah!" Bulbasaur burst out exasperatedly.

"Bulbasaur," Ash informed angrily, "Use your Razor Leaf attack!"

"Bulb-a!" Bulbasaur shot leaves from beneath his flower.

"Jolt!" Jolteon cringed, trying to avoid the leaves. 

"Thunderbolt, Jolteon!" Fulgura cried. 

"EON!" Jolteon howled as he released his wrath of lightning.

"Bulbasaur!" Ash cried.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur cried as the electricity rushed at him. A jet of some clear liquid shot out from the center of his flower toward Jolteon. Jolteon's electricity hit the liquid, but not Bulbasaur. The liquid absorbed the electricity right before it splattered on Jolteon's face.

"JOLT!" Jolteon cried. The electricity-conducting fluid had released Jolteon's charge against him.

"Bulb?" Bulbasaur wondered.

"What the…?" Ash wondered. He took out his PokéDex.

"Nectar, a recently discovered grass attack," Dexter explained, "It heals Grass-type Pokémon on contact. The fluid conducts electricity."

"Jolteon?" Fulgura asked.

"Jolt…" Jolteon whimpered, having been knocked out by his own electricity.

"Poor thing… return…" Fulgura recalled, "Here ya go Squirt. You won…"

"Thanks," Ash said as she tossed him a Thunder Badge.

"How did you stand all that electricity?" Fulgura asked, "You must have gotten just as much shock as I did."

"I can stand anything from hanging around with Pikachu," Ash said.

"That's cool," Fulgura said, "See ya."

"Bye," Ash said.

Bulbasaur followed Ash out of the gym. Ash kneeled down and petted him.

"You did a great job Bulbasaur!" he praised, "That was a cool attack. I'm glad you learned it!"

"Bulb-A-saur…" Bulbasaur blushed.

"How 'bout a rest in your Pokéball?" Ash asked. Bulbasaur was returned. Ash still held Pikachu in his other arm as he continued toward the Pokémon Center.

Chapter 31 (5)

"That'll be $10.00!"

James sighed. Without Jessie and Meowth's help, sneaking into the Safari Zone would be too much trouble—double or not. He thought, _I guess sacrifices must be made… I am short on money though…_

"Thank you," the man at the Safari Zone gate said, "Here are your 30 Safari Balls. Good luck!"

James took the greenish-colored Pokéballs and walked uncertainly through the gate. Shocker and Jingles were following. A herd of Doduo ran by.

"Catch?" Jingles asked.

"No," James said, "We'll get something rarer than Doduo!"

"Kang-gas- Kang-gas- Kang-gas-KHAN!"

"Kangaskhan?" Jingles asked and looked toward a nearby Kangaskhan that was shuffling through some bushes.

"W-ware?" Shocker questioned.

"Yep!" James said. They tiptoed closer to it.

"Khan?" it questioned.

"Gotcha!" James cried, hurling a Safari Ball. The ball swallowed up the Pokémon and landed on the ground. It wiggled around a few seconds, then opened to revealed the angry Kangaskhan.

"Bad?" Jingles asked.

"Yeah, this is bad…" James and the Pikachus jumped out of the way as the furious parent tried to tackle them. After landing in the dirt, James threw another Safari Ball. After a lot of wiggling, the ball stayed still.

"Ka-chu!" Shocker exclaimed.

"Caught you!" Jingles said.

"I…I caught it?" James wondered. He stood up and picked up the ball, "I caught it! I caught a Kangaskhan!"

"Kangaskhan!" Shocker said. The Safari Ball containing Kangaskhan disappeared.

"What?" James wondered.

"Only six Pokémon," Jingles said.

"Oh," James said, "There's you two. Plus Eevee, Slowpoke, Sandshrew, and Mankey. I guess Prof. Rose doesn't know about Weezing, Victreebel, and Kitsy."

"No know," Jingles agreed.

"Let's keep going," James said. "If I were a Dratini… where would I stay?"

"Water!" Jingles and Shocker exclaimed in unison.

"Of course…" James realized. They found one of the five or so lakes in the Safari Zone and put some PokéFood on the very edge of the water. They crouched in a nearby bush. A Magikarp swam by and snatched the food away.

"Not Dratini!" Shocker said.

"No, it's not," James said angrily. He tossed more food near the water. After a Goldeen, a Slowbro, three Magikarps, and a Psyduck had all gotten a free meal, James looked ready to explode.

"Patient," Jingles advised.

James sighed and said, "You're right." He continued to toss more food. For a while no Pokémon came to get it. Then a blue and silver face appeared from beneath the water and looked around curiously. James's face got a big evil-looking grin.

"Dratini?" Jingles asked.

"Teeny?" Dratini looked around and twitched its wing-like ears.

"Shh…" Shocker advised quietly. Jingles nodded.

James stood up and threw a rock at Dratini's head.

"Draw…" the Dratini growled angrily.

"Take this!" James exclaimed and threw a Safari Ball. Dratini dodged.

"Chu!" Jingles protested.

"Teeny! Teeny-teeny-DRATINI!" Dratini threatened. It slithered out of the water toward its attackers.

"Uh-oh!" Shocker said.

James threw Safari Balls as fast as he could. Shocker helped. Dratini's offense was delayed because it had to dodge the balls. One of Shocker's throws hit Dratini, but it broke out. 

"Dra?"

"Pi?" Jingles looked over and saw another Dratini watching the scene. It looked almost as angry as the other one. Jingles thought a moment and stepped over near a rock that was a little taller than her. She called out, "You're a stupid Pokémon!"

"Nee!" the second Dratini jumped out of the water, trying to attack Jingles. She dodged, and the Dratini slammed face first into the rock. It slithered back dizzily.

"Catch!" Jingles said. She picked up one of the un-thrown Safari Balls and threw it at the dizzy Dratini. It was caught easily. Jingles looked proud of herself.

"We'll get that thing!" James cried. He and Shocker were still chucking Safari Balls at the first Dratini. It got distracted by Jingles and the second Dratini. It was caught.

"Dratini got caught!" Shocker said.

"Dratini!" James said, "We caught a Dratini! And it only took a jar of Pokémon food, a rock, and … twenty-seven Safari balls!"

"Wait!" Jingles said, "Have _two_ Dratini!"

"Two?" James asked, taking the Safari Ball that had the second Dratini, "You caught another one?! Great job, Jingles!"

"It was easy!" Jingles said as the two Safari Balls disappeared.

"There's still two Safari Balls left," James said, "and we're gonna put them to good use!"

The next Pokémon they saw was Rhyhorn. It broke out of both Safari Balls, forcing James and the Pikachus to leave the Safari Zone.

"Have to go?" Jingles asked sadly.

"Yeah, but we got a good haul," James said.

Jingles smiled. When they got to the gate, she turned and yelled, "Bye-bye!" to the Safari Zone and its inhabitants. She was surprised when the herd/flock of Doduo answered her.

"Come again!" the man at the gate said.

Chapter 32 (5)

"They're headed to the Pokémon Center!" Meowth informed. He was looking through binoculars at Ash and Pikachu. Jessie and Butch were crouched behind him. They were all in a bush.

"Are you sure this kid's worth wasting our time with?" Butch demanded.

"Yes, now shut up," Jessie said.

"His Pokémon are weak from their gym battle!" Meowth said. "Let's go!"

~~~

Ash walked along the quiet street. Without warning, a net with weights on the sides land on top of him and Pikachu. Pikachu was still out cold from its battle with Voltorb.

"Hey!" Ash cried.

"Ha-ha-ha!" 

Ash looked up to see a much-familiar balloon. The balloon landed and its occupants jumped out.

"Team Rocket Squirts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, for you will surely loose the fight!"

"That's right!"

"Raticate!"

Ash looked confusedly at Butch. He looked to Jessie and asked, "What's he doing here?"

Butch sighed.

"That's none of your business!" Jessie said.

"Where's James?" Ash asked.

"Uh…" Jessie started to say something snide, but her eyes watered up.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, kid," Butch said, shoving Jessie out of the way, "Hand over your Pokémon or else!"

"Or else what?" Ash asked blankly. He turned to Jessie and said, "I figured if someone was going to push me around it'd be you."

"Yeah! Stop doing my job!" Jessie exclaimed.

"Well, someone has to. You're not!" Butch said defensively.

"Are you _really_ gonna let him push you around like that?" Ash asked Jessie, "I thought that both you and Meowth were better than that…."

"Cut it out! We have a job to do!" Butch said.

"…but I must have been wrong…" Ash concluded.

"Wrong nothing!" Meowth cried, using Slash on Butch's face.

"That's the best you have?" Ash said.

"Get out of our way, Moron!" Jessie ordered Butch.

"Out of your way?! I'm the only one doing this job!" Butch yelled.

"It's not your job! It's _our_ job!" Meowth insisted.

"Raticate!" Raticate objected.

"I'll show you!" Meowth said, beginning to battle Raticate.

"Stay out of our way, you halfwit!" Jessie said.

"Back off! I have a job to do!" Butch insisted.

"Rat…" the crumpled Raticate was tossed into Butch's arms by Meowth.

"I showed that little rodent!" Meowth said, "The rat's down so the mouse will be easy… YAH! WHERE'S THE MOUSE?!" 

The spot the Ash, Pikachu, and the net had been was empty.

"SEE?! You let them get away!" Jessie cried.

"You were the one who started it!" Butch insisted.

"Me-OW!" Meowth cried, falling backward in exasperation.

~~~

Ash, who held Pikachu, ran down the street to the Pokémon Center as fast a possible. Since he couldn't untangle himself from the net, he dragged it along with him. Thus, he was not surprised by Nurse Joy's confused look when he burst through the doors of the Center.

"Hi," Nurse Joy said, "Can I help you?"

"My Pikachu needs help," Ash said. He handed her Pikachu and the Pokéballs containing Galacteon and Bulbasaur, "These two too."

"Right away!" Joy took the three of them and went to another room.

"Chan-Chansey?" a Chansey asked.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," Ash said. 

"See…" Chansey tried to pull the net off of him. Frustrated, she Egg Bombed each of the weights. Ash pushed the remains of the net away and thanked her again.

"What?" Ash wondered as he saw a red blur rush past the glass doors of the Center. He saw Butch come from the direction the blur had come from and stop. He yelled something and waited for Jessie and Meowth to come back.

"Okay, kid, hand your Pokémon over," Butch said as the group walked in.

"Not interested," Ash said.

"You're Pokémon are too weak for you to defend them!" Jessie teased.

"You can't escape this one, Twerp!" Meowth said.

"Why do you think my Pokémon are any weaker than usual?" Ash asked.

"You just got finished with a tough gym match, so your Poké-pipsqueaks are Poké-pooped," Jessie said. She laughed as if she'd already won the fight.

"But it was only a three-on-three," Ash sighed. He threw a Pokéball and yelled, "Go get 'em with Body Slam!"

"Huh?" Meowth wondered.

"Snore!" 

"Uh-oh…" Jessie muttered, looking up at Snorlax. 

"Lax!" Snorlax began to lean slowly forward…

"MOVE!" Meowth suggested.

Snorlax landed on its belly. Butch was lying on his side with one leg trapped under Snorlax's shoulder. Jessie was light-headed and half-conscious. She was on her belly, and her body below her chest was trapped under Snorlax's side.

"Good job, Snorlax!" Ash said, "Return!"

"That was a mistake!" Butch said. He stood up and bounced on his un-squished leg.

"Really?" Ash asked, "Lapras, go!"

"MMM!" Lapras cried. She couldn't move around on the tile, but she could fight from where she was.

"Water Gun!" Ash said to Lapras.

"Mmm!" Lapras obeyed, soaking Butch.

"Is that _really_ your best shot?" Butch teased and rung out his shirt.

"Nope!" Ash sad, "Ice Beam!"

"What?" Butch stuttered, right before being frozen in a block of ice.

Officer Jenny ran through the door and asked, "Did I see Team Rocket come this way?"

Ash nodded. Jessie began to pull herself together. By the time she did, she was handcuffed and being dragged into a truck by a police canine. Jenny slid the ice sculpture of Butch out of the Center.

"Mmm?" Lapras asked.

"Good job, Lapras. Return now," Ash said.

"Chansey…" Chansey grumbled, kicking at the broken floor tiles where Snorlax had landed. 

"Sorry," Ash apologized. 

Chansey sighed. 

Ash thought, "I feel like I'm forgetting something…."

"Meowth! That's right!" Meowth cried. He hopped out from behind a tall potted plant near the door. He jumped at Ash and slashed his face. Ash noticed Meowth had a small backpack.

"Ahh! Get off!" Ash threw Meowth aside, "Don't out think you're a little out-numbered?! My three Pokémon versus you!"

"Not three-to-one!" Meowth mocked, "Three-to-two!"

"Big difference," Ash muttered, "Let's take this outside!"

"Why not?" Meowth asked. They went to the empty space outside the Pokémon Center.

"You know I don't play fair!" Meowth warned.

"Go, Snorlax!" Ash said.

"Meow!" Meowth cried. He opened his backpack and took out a small Pokéball. He enlarged it and threw it.

"Me-ew!" a tiny pink Pokémon appeared as the challenger.

Chapter 33 (6)

"Is that… a Mew?" Ash wondered, "Head Butt, Snorlax!"

"Snore!" Snorlax tried to butt Meow, but it dodged.

"Double Team!" Meowth ordered.

"Mew!" Meow cried. Without warning, there were five of them.

"Mew has a Double Team attack?" Ash questioned nervously.

"Three against one, huh?" Meowth mocked.

"Snore? Lax?" Snorlax looked at all of the Mews in confusion.

"Body Slam 'em all!" Ash ordered.

"LAX!" Snorlax attempted to squash all of them, and all of them tried to dodge. Only three of them did. Those three stepped back and surrounded Snorlax's head. They jumped at once and kicked Snorlax in the face.

"A Mega Kick attack?" Ash wondered.

"Snorlax!" Snorlax cried as Meow and its copies Double Slapped him. Only one of them did damage, but it was impossible to tell which was the real one.

"Head Butt, then get up!" Ash ordered.

Snorlax attacked all of them. Two vanished, and the real Meow get back up. Snorlax stood back up.

"Double Team again!" Meowth said.

"M-mew-mew!" the five Meows said. They jumped around on Snorlax like several hyper preschool kids. The angry Snorlax swatted at them vainly. While he was distracted by the Mews, Meowth jumped up and used Fury Swipes on his face.

"Hey!" Ash objected as Snorlax fell backward, "Return!"

"I warned you that I don't play by the rules!" Meowth said, "Even though you should have already known that!"

"Lapras! Ice Beam!" Ash ordered as he released Lapras.

"Mmm!" Lapras bellowed as she attempted to freeze Meow. Each copy moved too fast. She picked one and aimed only for it. After leaving a lot of ice on the ground, she hit her target. It vanished. 

"Ha-HA!" Meowth teased. He slashed and kicked poor Lapras into unconsciousness.

"Mmm…." Lapras whimpered.

"Lapras, return…" Ash sighed, "We're counting on you, Squirtle!"

"Squirt!" Squirtle roared.

"Heh-heh…" Meowth laughed nervously.

"MEW!" Meow scampered up Squirtle's shell and bit his nose.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cried. He picked Meow off is nose and threw him.

"M-mew!" Meow somersaulted and landed softly.

"That's the way!" Meowth said.

"Mew!" Meow shouted. He jumped aerobically and landed on Squirtle's head.

"Squirt?" Squirtle wondered.

"Mega Punch!" Meowth ordered.

"Mew!" Meow punched Squirtle's head as hard as possible.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle said, fairly unharmed. He bent over on tried to reach back and grab the annoying little thing on his head.

"Tail Whip!" Meowth retorted, "then Pound!"

"Me…ew!" Meow turned around and waved his tail in Squirtle's face.

"Grab it!" Ash ordered.

"Squirt-Squirtle!" Squirtle falteringly reached for the tail. 

"MMM-MEW!" Meow's tail swung up, then came back down, and hit the side of Squirtle's head with incredible force.

"Squirt!" Squirtle fell over. Meow jumped aside and waited. Squirtle didn't get up.

"Me-MEW!" Meow squealed joyfully.

"Uh…" Ash stuttered as he recalled Squirtle.

Chapter 34 (7)

"Pika-pi! Pi-pika-chu!" Pikachu came running out of the back door of the Pokémon Center.

"Glad you're feeling better, Pikachu!" Ash said, "Thunderbolt!"

"Pi…ka…"

"Water Gun!" Meowth cried.

"CHU!"

"Mew!" Meow spit. This was saliva, not water. The same thing happened in this event as when Bulbasaur battled Jolteon. Pikachu was knocked out by his own voltage. 

"We learned that trick from you and your Bulbasaur!" Meowth said.

"Chansey!" Chansey came over carrying two Pokéballs. She gave them to Ash.

"Thanks," Ash said, "Go, Bulbasaur!"

"SAUR!"

"Double Team!" Meowth ordered.

"Mew!" cried the _nine_ Meows.

"Bulb-a?" Bulbasaur wondered.

"Attack them all with Vine Whip!" Ash commanded.

"Bah!" Bulbasaur cried. He extended his vines and tired to crush the Mews together. The five in the center dodged the vines. The outer four vanished.

"Try the middle one!" Ash suggested.

"Bulb!" Bulbasaur aimed for the middle Mew. It jumped, but was hit from behind. It too vanished. The remaining four surrounded Bulbasaur. He started to get dizzy.

"Fury Swipes and Mega Kick!" Meowth ordered.

"Mew-mew-mew-mew!" the four Mews cried. They surrounded Bulbasaur's head and slashed at his face.

"Bulb-a! Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur muttered. He shook his head. The Mews got behind him and kicked him forward.

"Nah-hah!" Meowth laughed. He left a pair of slash marks across Bulbasaur's face.

"Saur…" Bulbasaur moaned.

"Bulbasaur, return…" Ash said, "Galacteon, go!"

"Gah!" Galacteon roared as he leaped from his Pokéball. He expected to see a challenger that was at least his size. He seemed surprised and insulted by his assembly of tiny opponents.

"Mew!" all of the Mews said. The real Meow stepped forward, brought his tail back, and Pounded Galacteon in the nose.

"Ow!" Galacteon rolled back from the force, "Why you little…" He search for his target, but Meow had vanished within the renewed Double Team. There were nine of them again.

"Moonbeam!" Ash said.

"Heya!" Galacteon managed to hit six of them. They all disappeared. They Pounded him in unison.

"Mega Moonbeam!" Ash decided.

"Grrr…" Galacteon growled. The star of light from his forehead hit the center Meow; it vanished. The two moons hit the other copies. The left one sent the one and only real Meow hurling into the air.

"MEW!" Meow landed and bounced. He didn't look like he'd get back up. Meowth looked a little down-hearted, but then he laugh. He took something in an orange container out of his backpack and sprayed it on the injured feline.

"Super Potion," Meowth mocked.

"Mew-mew!" Meow jumped up, looking fully refreshed.

"Oh, pooh…" Galacteon muttered.

Ash grumbled, "Don't worry! Keep fighting with Slash!"

"Agility!" Meowth said, "Use Tail Whip when you can!"

"M-mew-MEW!" Meow ran circles around Galacteon. Galacteon slashed at him with his blade. Seeing that that wasn't working, he moved his blade in a circle around him that was opposite of the way Meow was running. Meow dodged by dashing between Galacteon's legs.

"You little—!" Galacteon began. Ash cut him off by warning him. Meowth jumped in and tried Slashing at him. Thanks to Ash's warning, he fired a Moonbeam attack out of reflex. It hit Meowth in the stomach and knocked him away.

"Me-ew!"

"YOW!" Galacteon yelped as Meow's tiny teeth latched onto his right ear. He tried to shake him off. Meow's tail waved around in front of his face. Still shaking his head, he tied several times to bite the tail and finally did.

"Mmm-ew…" Meow grumbled as Galacteon pulled his head to the left in an attempt to pull the Mew off his ear. Meow hung on to the ear, but was pulled to the right of Galacteon's right eye.

Everything else happened in one split second. Galacteon tried to Slash Meow, who then let go _before_ he was hit. Galacteon's pulling made him swing to the left. His tail was freed, and Galacteon howled in pain after his star-blade cut into his own ear. Meow, having been hurled into the back wall of the Pokémon Center, used his big feet to ricochet off the wall and deliver a powerful Mega Kick to the side of Galacteon's head.

"Galacteon?! Are you okay?" Ash asked. 

Galacteon's uninjured ear twitched.

"Return…" Ash said. His mind raced, _That's all six down… Now what? How do I protect my Pokémon?_

"Don't forget… Psy…" Galacteon muttered breathlessly before entering his Pokéball.

"Psy? Psy-what?" Ash wondered. A white glow came from his backpack, along with a Pokémon.

"Psy? Duck!" Psyduck said.

"Psyduck…" Ash sighed.

"Psy-yi-yi?" Psyduck wondered.

"Mew?" Meow questioned. He prepared for Mega Kick. His kick bounced off of Psyduck's rubbery stomach, and the feline hit the ground. He stood and shook his head to clear away the temporary confusion that had come with the ground's impact.

"Psy?" Psyduck wondered.

"Okay, good job," Ash praised. He though, _I hope Psyduck listens to me…_

"MEW!" Meow bit Psyduck's hand.

"Psy-yi-YI!" he cried.

"Disable," Ash tried.

"Duck?!" Psyduck demanded.

"Uh, Scratch!" Ash said.

"Psy-yi!" Psyduck used his free hand to scratch Meow's face.

"Mew!" Mew released Psyduck and stumbled back in pain.

"Great!" Ash said, "Now use…Tail Whip!"

"Psy-duck-psy-duck-psy-duck…" Psyduck said, waving his tail at Meow.

"Cut it out!" Meowth cried. He scratched at Psyduck's eyes.

"DUCK!" Psyduck cried.

"Meow! Fury Swipes!" Meowth ordered.

"M-mew!" Meow slashed angrily at Psyduck's stomach.

"You use Fury Swipes too, Psyduck!" Ash said.

"Psy-yi-yi-yi-yi-yi!" Psyduck cried. His swipes battered and knocked Meow aside. Even Meowth had bright lines across his face after Psyduck's attack.

"Mew…" Meow whimpered.

"Me-OW-TH!" Meowth screeched as he recalled Meow to his Pokéball and bit Psyduck's tail.

"DUCK!" Psyduck shrieked as he Tail Whipped Meowth off the horizon.

Ash blinked for a second, then smiled, "Great job, Psyduck! You didn't even have to use your psychic powers!"

"Psy…" Psyduck rubbed his tail in pain.

"We'll tell Misty about that battle," Ash said, "She'll be proud of you!"

"Psy?!" Psyduck demanded. He gained a very large grin.

Ash smiled, "Return."

"Chansey?" Chansey asked.

"Thank you," Ash thanked. He handed the seven Pokéballs to her and followed her into the Center.

Chapter 35 (8)

"Ring-ring-ring! Ring-ring-ring!"

The same lady that had answered Pikachu's call before answered again this time. She sighed at the site of Pikachu and called for Haze. Haze took on look at the screen and yelled something to someone who wasn't in Pikachu's view.

A small gust of wind passed the lady at the phone before she was electrocuted.

"PIKACHU?!" Pika cried, almost desperately, as she pushed the fried lady out of the way and grabbed the phone's receiver.

"PIKA!" Pikachu greeted. 

After a few minutes of conversation in Pikachu language, the Pichus popped into view.

"Pi-pi-chu?" the asked.

"Pika," Pika said. She handed them the receiver and they huddled around it.

"Pi-Pichu!" Pikachu said.

"Pi-chu!" answered the Pichus. Togechikku fluttered up behind the Pichus and talked to Pikachu when they were done. Galacteon, then Psyduck, talked to everyone after Pikachu.

Pikachu and Pika took the phone again. Pikachu said, "Pika-pi pi-pika pi-KA-chu Cha. Pika chu-chu pika?"

"Pi-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Pika laughed. She turned and called, "Cha! CHA! Pika-pi pika-chu-chu!"

There was the sound of someone running, but it stopped abruptly as Pika began to snicker.

"Pika-pi?!" Pikachu called.

"Cha Pika-pi KA!" Pika laughed.

"I'm not exited!" Misty snapped as she stomped into Pikachu's view. She was wearing a pink bikini. Her hair hung down and was slightly curly because, like her swimsuit, it was wet. Misty took the phone, "Why would I be?! Oh, hi, Pikachu!"

"Pi-KA-Cha!" Pikachu greeted. He handed the phone to Ash, who was confused as to why, when he walked over.

"Hey, Ash, what's up?" Misty asked.

"Not much," Ash said. His cheeks got a reddish tint. Galacteon, who was behind Ash, batted his eyes teasingly. Pika giggled.

"What?" Misty asked Pika.

"Pika," Pika shook her head innocently.

"Has Psyduck given you any trouble?" Misty asked Ash. Having heard, Psyduck drooped.

"Nope," Ash said, "He won a battle without his headache getting any worse."

"Really? How?" Misty asked, appalled.

"Fury Swipes and Tail Whip," Ash said.

"Wow, Psyduck! I didn't know you could use Fury Swipes!" Misty said.

"Psy…" Psyduck said modestly. He smiled and blushed.

"Are you gonna show her Bulbasaur?" Galacteon asked loudly enough for Misty to hear.

Ash looked alarmed, "Well, uh…."

"What's so different about Bulbasaur?" Misty asked.

Ash held Bulbasaur's Pokéball and said, "I'll show him to you, but…"

"But what?" Misty asked.

"Could you please be nice to him?" Ash said.

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" Misty asked, looking slightly insulted.

"Because not everyone has been," Ash said, "and you seem to be skilled in the area of hurting people's feelings…."

"How should _you_ know?!" Misty demanded angrily.

"Personal experience…" Ash sighed, "Just be nice to Bulbasaur, okay?"

"Uh… yeah, sure," Misty said, lacking words. Ash released Bulbasaur onto the table.

"Saur. Bulb-a-saur!" Bulbasaur said, ruffling his flower petals.

"Oh, how cute!" Misty cooed.

"Bah…" Bulbasaur blushed.

"So, how many badges do you have, Ash?" Misty asked.

"Two," Ash said simply.

Misty seemed slightly surprised, "Great job."

"Thanks," Ash said, "but we ought to keep going."

"Okay, talk to ya later," Misty said, "Bye."

"Pika!" Pika called.

"See ya," Ash said.

"Pika, Pika!" Pikachu said.

Ash and Misty hung up. Misty looked down and asked, "Mom? Are you okay?"

"Vapor, vapor, vapor…" Haze pushed on the fried lady's arm, then used Water Gun on her face.

"Pi-hee-ka…" Pika laughed nervously.


	4. Part 6

A PokéSeries #9

War of Wars  
by Cyllya  
"Part 5: Scrambled Flames"

****

Chapter 36 (1)

BRRIIIIIIING!

Team Rocket—Jesse, Meowth, and Butch—had set up their camp in the woods. They were sleeping in hammocks hanging from the trees. 

BRRIIIIIIING!

Butch sat up in his hammock sleepily and angrily. He looked around, trying to find what had woken him up.

BRRIIIIIIING! 

The sound came from Jesse's backpack. It had to be a cell phone. 

"Jesse…" Butch called, "JESSE…!

Jesse didn't wake up.

BRRIIIIIIING!

Butch reached for her hammock, but didn't come close. He grabbed a stick out of the tree the front end of his hammock was attached to. It was about two feet long and as think as a person's thumb.

BRRIIIIIIING!

"JESSE!" Butch repeated. Seeing no effect, he reached for her hammock with the stick. He hooked the end under the cloth and pulled upward.

"Argh!" Jesse cried as she landed on her face after her hammock tipped.

Butch failed to hide his snickering.

"Why you little…" Jesse said angrily and got up, "I oughta—"

BRRIIIIIIING!

"Answer your stupid phone!" Butch snapped.

Jesse dived for her backpack and pulled out the phone, "Hello?"

"Hey, Jess."

"James!" Jesse exclaimed happily.

"Huh?" Meowth murmured, just waking up.

"Did I wake you up?" James asked.

"No, Butch did," Jesse said.

Butch burst out laughing.

"Though I don't think I'll ever be snotty enough to wake him up by tipping his hammock over," Jesse sighed.

"Why not?" James asked.

Jesse whispered, "I'll get him while he's sleeping," just barely loud enough for Butch to "accidentally" overhear. Butch immediately stopped laughing.

"Oh," James said, "Ya know, it's amazing how easy it is to catch Pokémon in the wild."

"The wild Pokémon are all weaklings though," Jesse said.

"They can get stronger," James said, "Neither the twerp or the police are around to give me a hard time, and I got a few Pokémon."

"That's great," Jesse said, "If they're any good, maybe you can get your job back."

"Maybe," James said, "I figured I'd catch you some Pokémon so you and Meowth could keep your jobs."

"Oh, that's touching," Jesse sniffled, "but what could you catch?"

"Do you want a Dratini?" James asked.

"A Dratini?!" Jesse exclaimed, "As in the little blue worm that swims and is really rare and valuable?! How would you catch that?!"

"I already did thanks to a couple people who _gave_ me Pikachus," James said. "One person abandoned Shocker. Some scientist thought I wanted to be a Pokémon Trainer and gave me Jingles."

"Shocker and Jingles?" Jesse asked, "Two Pikachus?"

"Yeah," James said, "I'll try to catch you one. I'll give you a Dratini next time I see you."

"Oh, James, you're best!" Jesse said, practically in tears, "It's so nice to have a buddy like you!"

"It's the least I could do," James said, "You and Meowth are, like, my only friends."

"I only wish you were still our partner," Jesse sobbed.

"Is that James?" Meowth asked and jumped onto Jesse's head, "Can I talk?"

"Here's Meowth," Jesse said. She handed the phone to Meowth.

"Hey, Jimmy, how ya been?" Meowth asked.

"I'm okay," James said, "I caught some Pikachus and I'm gonna try to get one for you and Jesse."

"That's great!" Meowth said, "Did I hear Jesse say something about a Dratini?"

"I'll give one of those to you," James said, "I already have it."

"No way!" Meowth challenged in disbelief.

"I do."

"No way!"

"I do."

"No way!"

"I do."

"No way!"

"Here," James accepted. There was the faint sound of a Pokéball opening. James said, "Say hello, Dratini!"

"Dra-Dra-tee-ee-ee-nee!" 

"No way!" Meowth shrieked. 

"Teeny! Teeny Dratini!" Dratini scolded.

"Dratini real!"

"What was that?" Meowth asked.

"Jingles, one of those Pikachus," James said, "They can talk. Say hi, Jingles and Shocker!"

"Hi Jingles an Shocker!" Jingles and Shocker said.

"¯ Everybody need a little KFC!¯ " Jingles sang.

"You like Kentucky Fried Chicken?" Meowth asked.

"No," Jingles said, "I'm a vedge-dee-tairy-in."

"Uh, yeah," Meowth said, "So James, where are you calling from?"

"A payphone in Fuchsia City," James answered, "Where are you?"

"We're after the twerp and Pikachu and on our way Saffron," Meowth sighed.

"Oh, good luck," James said, "I have to go. There's a cop kinda wandering around and I don't want her to recognize me. Bye. Tell Jess I miss her."

"Bye," Meowth said. He and James hung up.

"I wanted to talk to him more," Jesse said.

"He had to go," Meowth said, "But he misses ya, don't worry."

Jesse sighed and smiled.

****

Chapter 37 (2)

Ash, Pikachu, and Galacteon traveled north toward Saffron City. Galacteon looked back and forth between his trainer and his Electric buddy. He seemed confused. They were both looking at the ground and not saying anything.

__

Did I do something wrong? Galacteon asked himself, _What is this? The silent treatment?_

"Hey, Ash," Galacteon said.

Ash was too preoccupied to hear him.

"Ash? Ash?" Galacteon prodded, "Earth to my trainer!"

"Huh?" Ash asked, "What—" 

SMACK!

Having not heard Galacteon's attempted warning in time, he smacked face-first into a tree. Galacteon stopped when Ash fell over, but Pikachu absent-mindedly kept walking. Galacteon lightly pinned Pikachu's tail to the ground with his paw.

"PIKACHU!" Pikachu cried, startled out of his wits. A Thunderbolt escaped his cheeks and fried Galacteon.

"Hey! What's with the paranoia?!" Galacteon demanded and toppled over.

"Chu," Pikachu apologized.

"What's wrong with you guys?" he asked as he stumbled up dizzily.

"Sorry for ignoring you. I didn't mean too," Ash said and sat up, "I was just thinking about something."

Galacteon looked uneasy, "It's the pink rat, huh?"

"[It's 'Mew,']" Pikachu corrected.

"Yeah," Ash said, "It came so close… If it had been an ordinary Pokémon battle, I wouldn't think that much of it. But that was Team Rocket. If it weren't for Psyduck, I could've lost you guys. After seeing it work so well, Team Rocket will probably try to make that Pokémon stronger and try it again."

"That would awfully smart of them," Galacteon said, "Are you sure your not over-estimating them a little bit?"

"[Always expect the unexpected,]" Pikachu advised, "[You never know when they'll get lucky. Especially now that Butch is with them.]"

"Plus Jesse and J—err, Butch have probably realized how well Meowth's plan worked," Ash said, "They'll cooperated with him more. Their Pokémon will help the Mew—Meow, I think—while we're battling it. Plus it'll get stronger. I gotta admit that I'm kinda worried…"

"I had kinda let my guard down," Galacteon admitted, "It had the advantage of surprise."

"I wish Misty _had_ come with us," Ash sighed.

"Pika ka Cha," Pikachu nodded.

"You know," Galacteon said, "Saffron isn't that far from Cerulean, so if…" He hesitated upon Ash's 'Don't go there' look. 

"I'm _not_ gonna ask Misty to come with us," Ash insisted, "I have more dignity than that."

"It won't take any dignity away from me, so I have plenty," Galacteon said, "I'll ask her for you—and I'll say that it's Pikachu and I that want her around, and you couldn't care less."

"No," Ash said.

Galacteon sighed, "Fine…"

"Let's keep going," Ash said. He stood up and kept walking, followed by his Pokémon.

"So what had you so jumpy?" Galacteon asked Pikachu.

"[Saffron City Gym,]" Pikachu answered simply.

"What about it?"

"[Last time, I never really won that battle,]" Pikachu explained, "[Sabrina laughed at Haunter's funny faces during the battle. Her Kadabra started rolling with laughter too and couldn't fight. That's the only reason I won.]"

"Sabrina uses Psychic-type Pokémon?" Galacteon asked, "Or Ghost?"

"[Psychic,]" Pikachu conformed.

"Then Ash'll probably have me battle," Galacteon said, "Lunar Pokémon have a resistance against Psychic-type attacks."

"[That's good,]" Pikachu said, "[I remember seeing her at that one party. Her Kadabra evolved into an Alakazam.]"

"Ooh, that's a toughie," Galacteon said, "A battle against an Alakazam might be kinda hard. I'll manage, though. It's probably not half as hard as if would be for Ash to tell Misty how much he cares…"

"Hey!" Ash snapped.

Though Pikachu's tiny form gave him almost no cover, Galacteon ducked behind the Mouse anyway. He tried to pretend to be afraid while also trying not to burst out laughing at Ash's denial.

"I don't even begin to like Misty that way!" Ash insisted, "I have trouble tolerating her as a friend! She's annoying… a-and… and, she's a pest, and…sh-she gives me headaches!"

Galacteon considered his response before emitting his famous giggle and saying, "They say you hurt the ones you love… and your stuttering makes you seem more guilty! I meant as friends, ya know. It seems awfully suspicious that you would assume I meant as a girlfriend… Kinda makes ya think, huh Pik?"

Pikachu cleared his throat nervously and said stayed silent.

"No comment, huh?" Galacteon asked. 

Ash, short of a defense, changed the subject, "Anyway, I'll probably have you battle in Saffron. Last time it was a one-on-one. I'll use Pikachu too if its not."

"Okay," Galacteon agreed, tolerating the not-so-casual subject change.

"Pika," Pikachu said.

"We'll stop for a while and eat once we find a good spot. 'Kay?" Ash said.

"Chu! Pika-Pika!" Pikachu said cheerfully. Ash kept walking, but a few feet later, the ground began to feel like it was sinking down a little with each step. It was like walking on an old stiffened trampoline.

"Uh…" Galacteon wondered. Along with Ash, he stopped walking and looked uneasily at the ground. Pikachu scampered back the way they'd come from for a few feet.

"Walk backward very carefully," Ash advised. He held his breath and followed his own advice. He and Galacteon froze as something snapped and the ground sank about six inches.

"Should we keep walking backward?" Galacteon asked.

"Pikachu move," Ash instructed, and Pikachu scurried left, "Galacteon, on 'three,' jump over to where Pikachu was. One…two…THREE!"

They jumped backward just as the ground beneath them collapsed, revealing a hole. Ash's foot landed on a thick stick on the edge of the hole. The stick slipped off the edge and took Ash's foot with it.

Galacteon and Pikachu attempted to keep Ash from falling in the hole. His shirt slipped from Pikachu's paws, and Galacteon fell in with him.

THUD!

"Ugh!" Ash groaned. He stood and tried to run up the side of the hole and grab the ledge. He succeeded and tried to pull himself out, only to be hit in the head and knocked back down. The floor of the pit lurched and collapsed. Ash and Galacteon fell another five feet.

"Ha-ha-ha!"

"PIKAPI!" 

"Pikachu?!" Ash cried.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jesse exclaimed as she appeared from the top of the hole. There was silence. She frowned and whispered, "Butch! Say, 'Make it double.'"

Silence…

"Well say something!"

"Uh-huh…"

Jesse grumbled to herself before bolding proceeding, "To protect the world from devastation!"

"Blight people…"

Jesse frowned, "To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"Extend wrath…"

"Jesse!"

"Butch…"

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now…"

"Meowth!" Meowth yelled at Butch, "Say the motto right!"

"Rat!" Raticate knocked Meowth aside. Butch was busy messing with a disassembled remote control. He ignored the angry looks of Jesse and Meowth. He replaced the last of the wires and closed the remote up. He pushed a large red button on it.

"Chu…" Pikachu whimpered nervously. All three Rockets were wearing rubber suits. 

"Leave my Pikachu alone!" Ash demanded. Galacteon barked.

"It's our Pikachu now," Jesse mocked as a metal Onix exited from its cover in a nearby clump of trees. It was about two thirds the size of the real thing.

"Pi!" Pikachu gasped, "Pika-CHU!" He used Thunderbolt on it. The electricity crackled around it, but after the attack stopped, the robot continued its movement toward them.

"Pikachu!" Ash called again.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu cried.

Butch pressed buttons on the remote. The metal Onix roared and lunged at Pikachu.

Jesse laughed evilly, "You're no match for our robotic Onix, Pikachu. So like it or not, you're coming with us."

"Chu!" Pikachu jumped out of the way of the robot's tackle. 

"Agility, Pikachu! Keep it up!" Ash yelled. He turned to Galacteon and said, "Focus Energy."

Galacteon nodded and began to concentrate.

"Pika!" Pikachu dodged a few more times. He was hit from behind by the robot's tail and scooped into its mouth. Cage bars formed where its teeth could have been and locked Pikachu in.

"Swallow it!" Butch ordered and pressed buttons. The Onix leaned its head back.

"Cha!" Pikachu cried as it fell down a robotic version of the throat of the Onix. It was surrounded by darkness.

****

Chapter 38 (3)

"Hold on, Pikachu!" Ash cried. Galacteon was glowing. Ash gripped his shoulders and said, "Get us out of here!"

"Heya!" Galacteon yelled. With surprising speed, he ran up the side of the hole with Ash and a trail of light dragging behind him.

"Huh?" Jesse, Meowth, and Butch wondered.

"We'll show them!" Butch exclaimed. He used the remote to order Robo-Onix to attack Ash and Galacteon. They leaped out of the way.

"Go! Squirtle!" Ash ordered.

"Squirt!" Squirtle exclaimed.

"Hydro Pump that Onix!" Ash ordered boldly and pointed to Robo-Onix.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cried. Its attack was powerful enough to make Robo-Onix become helpless among the gush of water. It seemed that the force alone was what affected the machine. When Squirtle was finished, Robo-Onix shook its head and tackled its new opponent.

"Hah-hah!" Butch laughed, "Get that thing!"

"Hang in there, Squirtle!" Ash called, "Give it a Scull Bash and another Hydro Pump!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle bellowed and rammed Robo-Onix with his head. The result was Squirtle's head turning black and purple. Another Hydro Pump made Robo-Onix reel back.

"Galacteon! Mega Moonbeam!" Ash ordered.

Galacteon roared, jumped forward, and attacked. The star of his attack hit Robo-Onix in its eyes, which was made of glass. The glass shattered, sending sparks everywhere. The moons made big dents in the side of its head. Squirtle used Water Gun.

"What the—?" Butch wondered as brownish-red patches began to form on Robo-Onix's metal plates.

"Keep it up, Squirtle!" Ash praised, "You're making in rust!"

"What?!" Jesse demanded. She got in Butch's face and demanded, "Why didn't you rust-proof it?!"

"Because I had to shock-proof it!" Butch shot back. He ordered, "Get that turtle, Robo-Onix!"

Robo-Onix moved ineptly toward Squirtle. Squirtle withdrew and rolled away after Robo-Onix used Slam. 

"Water Gun!" Ash ordered.

"Squirt!" cried Squirtle. As water continued to pour down on Robo-Onix, its patches of rust enlarged. Soon it was so rusty that it couldn't move and was like a brownish-red statue.

"Galacteon, Slash!" Ash commanded.

"Grrr!" Galacteon's star sliced through the rusty shell of the robot. 

It was one long line from its neck to its midsection, when Galacteon heard a desperate-sounding, "Pika! Pika!"

A fragment of the thin line of sunlight that had emerged in front of Pikachu was replaced by Galacteon's glittery black eyes.

"Pika pi KA!" Pikachu hollered, "Pika Pikachu!"

Galacteon cut a circle in the area of the robot that Pikachu was held in.

" Pi _ka_!" Pikachu leaped out and spread his arms, blessing the fresh air.

"Pikachu!"

"Pikapi!"

Pikachu refrained himself from the sudden idea that had come to his mind—build a temple of sorts in honor of the air—and leaped into Ash's embrace.

"Squirt!" Squirtle said cheerfully.

"Glad you're outta that hunk o' junk!" Galacteon said.

"Pi_ka_!" Pikachu agreed.

"Hello?!" Jesse demanded, "Who do you think you are to just ignore us?!"

"Who do I think I am?" Ash asked laughingly, "I think I'm the kid that's beaten you so many times that I lost count ages ago!"

"Then you can't count!" Butch mocked, shoving Jesse out of his way.

"Hey!" Jesse exclaimed to her co-worker, "He's beaten _me_ dozens of times! He's only beaten you three times!"

"Hey, maybe you _do_ have a hidden talent!" Butch said energetically, "You can carry on an argument with yourself while your opponent has a job to do!"

"Rrrr," Jesse grumble. She whacked him with her big paper fan, "YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT…! I know this kid better than you do! He's gonna—"

"Get out of my way!" Butch scolded. As the two of them began another argument, Ash sighed. He pointed boldly at them.

"Galacteon! Swift attack!"

"Heya!" Galacteon yelled. He shot tons of little stars at Team Rocket. Due to the stars' sharp edges colliding with them, they stopped arguing rather abruptly. Their rubber suits were sliced up. It would still be hard for electrify to reach them unless…

"Squirtle! One last Hydro Pump!" Ash directed, "Pikachu…!" He paused for dramatic effect and grinned evilly, "…THUNDER!"

All of the T.R. members emitted a loud and fearful squeak. Squirtle's water soaked through the slits of their suits and carried Pikachu's electricity. This left them extremely fried.

"Squirtle, Scull Bash!" Ash ordered.

Squirtle bashed the crisped idiots into the air.

"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"

"Do you ever tired of saying that?"

They disappeared off the horizon.

"Alright!" Ash whooped.

****

Chapter 39 (4)

"Well that's the end of them," Ash said. He held out a Pokéball, "Good job, Squirtle. Return."

"Hydro Pump and Thunder?" Galacteon asked, "Those are Squirtle and Pikachu's strongest attacks. You really didn't want to go easy on 'em, did ya?"

"Why should we?" Ash asked. Seeing Galacteon droop, he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Would you have told me to use Swift if…" Galacteon stuttered, "if I could do that attack that Jigglypuff used?"

"Yeah," Ash confirmed, "We needed a fast attack that would put a lot of holes in that rubber. They might have had more time to react if you'd used Slash."

Galacteon gave a small smile, "I guess you're right…"

"Don't forget," Ash said, "I've been training Pikachu and Squirtle longer than I have you. I think you're learning your attacks pretty fast. You'll learn Lunar Cannon soon."

"Yeah, you're right," Galacteon accepted. Ash patted his head.

"So, let's get g—"

"R-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!"

"PIKA!" Pikachu shrieked in alarm. The sound was high and shrill, but not too loud.

"R-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!"

"What is that?!" Galacteon demanded. He pulled his ears down so they were flat against the side of his head. Pikachu did the same.

"R-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!"

"I don't know!" Ash shouted with his hands over his ears.

"R-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!"

"Pika-Pi-Pikachu!" Pikachu pointed to the stand of trees that the Robo-Onix had come from.

"R-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!"

"If it's coming from over there," Galacteon said, struggling to make his high voice rise above the wailing, "then let's go over there and shut it up!"

"R-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ah!"

"Right!" Ash agreed. He jogged toward the trees with Galacteon and Pikachu right behind him. They approached a bush that was against a tree. The sound stopped, but it was obvious that it had come from the bush. 

"Mmm-mmm-mmm?" was the new sound. Ash kneeled by the bush and looked to Pikachu and Galacteon, who were huddled behind him. They appeared to have absolutely _no_ intention of investigating.

"What?" Galacteon asked, upon Ash's pleading look, "You're not scared, are you?"

"Of course not!" Ash snapped. He turned to the bush and cautiously pulled the branches apart.

"Yip!"

"Yahh!" Ash jumped back, startled, and released the bush. He rolled back into Galacteon and Pikachu.

"Pikapi? Pi pika chu?" Pikachu requested.

"Sorry," Ash said. He got off his Pokémon and tried to remember what he'd seen. It had startled him so much that all he'd seen was a reddish and yellow blur.

"What was it?" Galacteon asked.

"Chu?" Pikachu shrugged.

"Don't know," Ash said. He tentatively pulled the branches apart again. The blur was now a solid figure. It cowered against the tree trunk behind it.

"Grrr…" it whimpered, "Growlithe growl."

"Growlithe," Ash realized, looking sadly at the critter's tears. He was still using his hands to hold the branches, so he said to Galacteon and Pikachu, "Get my PokéDex."

"Pika," Pikachu pulled it out of his pocket.

"Growlithe—the Puppy Pokémon. It is protective and defends its territory with barks and bites. It uses powerful Fire attacks."

"It didn't ping," Ash said.

"Huh?" Galacteon asked.

"The PokéDex didn't make a pinging sound."

"Pi ka-ka," Pikachu held up the closed PokéDex.

"It didn't do anything," Galacteon grinned, "I'm vocally talented, remember? That's how I learned to talk!"

"Yeah," Ash said. He looked at the Growlithe, smiled softly, and said, "Pi-pika pika? Pikachu?"

"Growl?" Growlithe crawled cautiously toward Ash.

"Pika pi-chu," Pikachu said.

"Yeah, it _is_ small," Galacteon nodded, "Must be a puppy."

"Yep," Ash said. He picked it up and stood.

"Lithe…"

"Pi-Pikachu," Ash consoled. The Puppy relaxed and smiled.

"Pi _ka_-chu?" Pikachu asked.

"No, it can't be wild," Ash said, "It's got collar."

He turned the thin blue band enough to read the round gold ID tag attached. "BLAZE," was engraved into it.

"Blaze?" Ash wondered.

"Must be its nickname," Galacteon said.

"I was hoping it would say where it lives," Ash said. He smiled and shook the Puppy's paw, "Nice to meet you, Blaze."

"Growl lithe!" Blaze smiled. 

"Pika-chu chu pi," Pikachu said as he hopped onto Ash's shoulder and pointed to the tag.

"Hmm," Ash turned it upside-down to see the other side. He cradled Blaze like a baby and twisted his head to read the words. He read, "'Saffron City Police Department.' Maybe it's a police canine…"

"…In training," Galacteon added, noting Blaze's size.

"Yeah," Ash agreed, "Let's keep heading to Saffron so we can give Blaze back to his trainers."

"Lithe?" Blaze wondered.

****

Chapter 40 (5)

Ash, Pikachu, Galacteon, and Blaze arrived in Saffron City. 

Pikachu seemed overly cautious. He peeked through the gate before going through it. He gave a sigh of relief. No people that bothered giving them a second glance. No dorky-looking girls with grass skirts and flower necklaces. He followed the others.

The group approached the gym. It was exactly the same as before. It had the same color, the same eerie quietness, the same oddly shaped roof, and the same fact that the people of Saffron appeared to be going out of their way to stay away from it as they passed.

"Hey, it's locked," Ash said as he pulled vainly on the handle of the door. He tried the other door. It was locked too.

"Maybe Sabrina's taking a lunch break," Galacteon suggested.

"I doubt it," Ash said, "But speaking of lunch break…" His stomach growled. He was still holding Blaze, who growled back.

"You're looking for Sabrina."

Galacteon yelped and dashed behind Ash's feet. A guy seemed to suddenly appear next to them. The words he used seemed like those of a question, but the guy said it like a statement.

"Yeah. Is she here?" Ash asked, "I need a Marsh Badge."

"The Great Sabrina is not present," the man said.

Galacteon's fur bristled. Pikachu seemed to have trouble keeping his cheeks from emitting sparks.

"Your Pokémon find me unnerving."

"Creepy," Galacteon corrected quietly. The man had white hair and gray eyes that stared into space and rarely blinked. It made him look ghostlike and ghoulish.

"Where is Sabrina?" Ash asked.

"Only she knows her own whereabouts."

"Meaning you don't know where she is?"

"What I know is superfluous."

"Yeah…" Ash said, "Anyway…when will she be back?"

"Only time will tell…." the man said.

Ash sighed in exasperation, "Is there anyone else I can get a Marsh Badge from?"

"Only the Great Sabrina is worthy of distributing the golden badge," the man stated.

"'No' would be sufficient," Galacteon muttered.

"Chu," Pikachu nodded.

"Okay," Ash said, "I'll—"

"—be leaving," the man finished.

Ash nodded and started to sidestep toward the steps.

"Since you want a battle," the man said, "I'll give you one. You won't get a badge though."

"You're on!" Ash said, instantly forgetting his discomfort.

"Of course," the man said, "you wouldn't get a badge from me if I was the gym leader. You won't win this battle."

Despite the bold words, the man kept a steady tone and a straight face.

"Don't be so sure," Ash grinned.

"I'm a psychic," the man said, "I see the future."

"They say you can't believe everything you see!" Ash said.

"Don't think in words," Galacteon whispered, "Think about your strategy in the back of your mind, so its more like pictures."

"Uh," Ash stuttered.

"Become ready," the man said, "Two Pokémon each."

"Right," Ash said. 

"Growl?" Blaze questioned. Ash sat him down next to Galacteon.

"Stay put, okay?" Ash said, "Go, Pikachu!"

"Pika pi _ka_!" Pikachu exclaimed and jumped forward.

The man's eyes glowed slightly. A Pokéball appeared from behind him, floated for a moment, and was sent forward. It opened.

"Mr. Mime!" the opponent said.

"A Mr. Mime, huh?" Ash said, amused, "Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Pi…ka…CHU!" Pikachu sent his fury toward the mime.

"Mime!" Mr. Mime said. The man's eyes glowed again. Mr. Mime made a barrier to block Pikachu's lightning. It started slapping Pikachu.

"Cha!" Pikachu cried as he kept getting knocked around.

"Pikachu!" Ash said, _Maybe if… Galacteon said don't think in words…_

Pikachu broke free of the Double Slap attack and stood ready. Ash took a deep breath and prepared to rattle out a lot of unplanned orders in Pika-ese.

"[Agility! Try Quick Attack! Fake a left! Go right! Hit 'em now! Jump back! Dodge right! Slide under it! Thunder! Hurry!]"

"Chu!" Pikachu slid under Mr. Mime. Once on the other side of the confused mime, it electrocuted it with the best Thunder possible with so little time to charge. Mr. Mime fell over backward and landed on the exhausted Pikachu.

If the man was surprised, confused, angry, or sad, he did a good job of not showing it. The Pokéball floated through the air and sucked Mr. Mime up. A new Pokéball flew forward and revealed… Hypno.

"Pikachu, return," Ash said, seeing that Pikachu was pika-pooped. 

"Pi…ka…" Pikachu crawled back to Ash's feet.

"Go, Galacteon!" Ash ordered.

"Heya!" Galacteon cried.

"Hip…no…" Hypno said. It waved its medallion back and forth… back and forth…

Ash looked away. It's hard for Pokémon to hypnotize humans, but the technique _could_ make him sleepy. Galacteon stared at the middle of middle of the medallion's path, where it had been before it started waving. He looked a little like he was in a trance.

"Galacteon?" Ash asked when Hypno was done.

"Yes?" Galacteon asked. He stood up straight, smirked, and waited haughtily for orders.

"Mega Moonbeam," Ash ordered.

"Grrr…" Galacteon snarled as he did the attack.

"Hip…" squeaked Hypno. It held its hands toward Galacteon and narrowed its eyes. They glowed purple. The air around it and Galacteon waved.

Galacteon squealed and cringed.

"Galacteon!" Ash cried as his Pokémon tumbled toward him.

"I'm okay…" Galacteon said dizzily and stumbled up.

"Quick Attack!" Ash ordered as Hypno began Hypnosis.

"Right!" Galacteon said. He ran at Hypno, trying to ignore the hypnosis waves, and rammed it.

"No…" Hypno fell over unconscious.

"Yea…" Galacteon mumbled. He fell over with a thump and went to sleep.

"Is suppose you do win," the man said. A Pokéball sucked up Hypno and disappeared with the man.

"Alright!" Ash cried. He smiled sympathetically at Galacteon and recalled him to his Pokéball. He said, "Okay, Pik, let's head to…Pikachu?"

Pikachu was not where he'd been left. He wasn't _anywhere_ in sight. Blaze was gone too.

"Pikachu?!" Ash called, "Pikachu?! Pikachu?!…Blaze?!"

There was no response.

****

Chapter 41 (6)

James, Jingles, and Shocker walked out of Fuchsia via Route 15. Due to lack of workers, the construction of the bridge near Fuchsia City had been delayed. It had recently been continued, but the footpath _still_ wasn't done. So pedestrians couldn't use it. You had to have a car or a bike.

"Well it's only a _slight_ detour," James said optimistically, "Instead of going through Routes 16, 17, and 18, we'll go… through Routes 15,14,13, and 12."

"That good," Shocker said.

"Then through Lavender Town," James continued, "Then Route 8, Saffron City, and Route 7. _Then_ we'll be in Celadon City."

"That bad," Shocker concluded.

"_Big_ detour," Jingles said. She spread her arms to emphasize "big."

James sighed, "You're right."

"Pokémon," Jingles said.

"What?" Jams asked. He looked where Jingles was pointing. There was a rustling in one of the bushes. James cautiously went over to it, followed by the Pikachus. He said, "Shocker, use Thundershock on it."

"Pi-KA!" Shocker exclaimed. He electrocuted the bush. Right before the blackened leaves fell to the ground, a green and white stick shot out of the bush. It hit Shocker in the forehead with so much force that it knocked him out. "Cha!"

"Shocker!" James and Jingles cried. The stick bounced back into the bush.

"Far!" exclaimed the Pokémon that grabbed it, "Fetched far!"

"Farfetch'd!" James shouted.

"Farfetch'd!" it squawked. It threw its leek at Jingles, who barely ducked in time. The leek came back to Farfetch'd's beak. It took flight and started to disappear.

"After it!" James yelled. He picked up Shocker and ran after Jingles, who was running after Farfetch'd.

"Far…f-fret come b-back-k!" Jingle stuttered as she ran.

"Thundershock!" James commanded.

"CHU!"

"Far…" Farfetch'd fell on the ground.

"Th-Th-Ss-Th-uh," Jingles stuttered and pinned Farfetch'd.

"Should we eat it or catch it?" James wondered, "It's rare and valuable, but it tastes good too."

"Apple better," Jingles advised.

"You're right," James said, "I'd probably prefer a hamburger. Pokéball, Go!"

"Fetched," Farfetch'd moaned as it was drawn into the Pokéball. The Pokéball wiggled around, and Farfetch'd started to come out.

"Chu!" Jingles shocked it, even though it was still a jumble of white light. It went back into the ball and stayed there.

"Great job, Jingles!" James said.

"Th-Th-Thank oo," Jingles smiled, "Th-Th-Ss Th-Th-uh-uh Th-Thun-deer. Thunder? Thundershock!"

James nodded. The Pokéball was transported away as Shocker started to wake up.

"Farfeth'd?" he wondered.

"Ka it!" Jingles said.

"…Chu!" Shocker said cheerfully, lacking a response.

"Let's keep going," James said.

****

Chapter 42 (7)

"Pikachu?!" Ash called, "Pikachu?! Where are ya buddy?!"

He wasn't as close to the gym now, so there were more people around. A few looked at him strangely, but most ignored him.

"What if Team Rocket stole Pikachu and Blaze?" Ash wondered, "How can I find them? Maybe Galacteon can use his sense of smell to track them down… But Galacteon's still worn out from that last battle. Okay, to the Pokémon Center."

It took him nearly half an hour to find the Pokémon Center in the huge city, despite the Center itself being quite large. There were a lot of people inside, but it wasn't crowded at all. Ash went to the counter and looked for Nurse Joy. When he found her, she was on the other side of the room talking to an Officer Jenny.

"Chansey?" a Chansey asked as it hopped up onto the counter. She wore a name tag that said "Peenki."

"Uh, can you treat these two Pokémon for me?" Ash asked. He handed her the Pokéballs with Squirtle, who was still tired from the battle with the mechanical Onix, and Galacteon.

"Chansey _Chan_-see!" Peenki said cheerfully. She took the Pokéballs and went into another room.

"Wonder what's up with them?" Ash thought, looking back to Joy and Jenny. They both looked angry, and Jenny seemed annoyed. They appeared to be arguing with each other.

"See?" Peenki tapped his shoulder.

"Yeah?" Ash asked. He took his Pokéballs and said, "Thanks."

"Chansey," Peenki smiled.

"What are they arguing about?" Ash asked. He pointed to Joy and Jenny.

"Chan-Chansey," Peenki shrugged, looked apathetically at them, and got a big sweat drop.

__

Sniff-sniff.

"Hmm?" Ash wondered.

__

Sniff-sniff

He spotted a Pokémon sniffing through the crowd. It was too small to be an Arcanine, so it had to be a large Growlithe. It looked tired, and it had a lot of bandages.

"Chance," Peenki said uneasily as it approached her and Ash. The Growlithe sniffed Ash's shoe. It stood on its hind legs, using the counter for balance, and sniffed his shirt. It started barking.

"What? What is it?" Ash demanded. Jenny came over quickly.

"Excuse me, young man," she held a picture up to Ash, "Have you seen this Pokémon?"

It was a picture of someone holding a small Growlithe. Only the person's hands showed. The smiley Puppy had its head turned up enough to see that its name tag said, "Blaze."

"Uh, yeah," Ash stuttered, "I found it on Route 6. Its tag said it was a police dog, so I was gonna bring it back to you. But after I got in the city, it kinda disappeared, along with my Pikachu."

"Disappeared?" Jenny wondered.

"Yeah," Ash said, "I was having a Pokémon battle and it was sitting next to me. After Pikachu was done battling, he sat with it. When the battle was over, they weren't there."

One of the Pokéballs in Ash's hand wiggled and glowed. Ash loosened his hold on it, and it opened to reveal a distressed-looking Galacteon. Apparently, he'd heard the explanation.

"Pikachu's missing?" he asked, "He was there when I started battling."

* * *

"Pika!" Pikachu protested, as he ran through an alley after Blaze. Blaze looked like he'd seen a ghost, having been frightened by the flashes of psychic power in the battle of Galacteon and Hypno.

"Growl! Growl!" he whimpered. As he ran past a trash can, he stepped on something. It was long thin, beige, and brown. The brown tip was curled. In response to his tail being stepped on, Meowth jumped up, screeched in pain, and landed a top the trash can.

"Pika-ka!" Pikachu realized. Blaze was cowering in terror in the corner.

"Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!" Jesse said as she popped up from her cover behind the trash cans.

"Surrender now," Butch said, removing the banana peel from his head, "for you will surely loose the fight!"

"That's right!"

"Raticate!"

"Pi…ka…CHU!" Pikachu cried.

"Get your shock guards out!" Jesse cried. The Team quickly pulled out their shock-proof gloves. Pikachu's electricity bounced off the gloves, hit the garbage cans, and electrocuted them anyway.

"Chu!" Pikachu ordered Blaze. The Growlithe was immobile, so Pikachu scared it into running by narrowly missing it with Thundershock. They both disappeared from the ally.

BRRIIIIIIING!

"Hello?!" Jesse said, quickly answering her cell phone.

"I have an assignment for you…" Giovanni's voice said. Jesse drooped in disappointment. 

****

Chapter 43 (8)

"Pikachu! Pikachu!" Ash called, "Come here, Pikachu!"

"Blaze!" Officer Jenny shouted, "Come here, boy!"

"Growl! Growlithe!" Jenny's other Growlithe barked.

"Blaze! Pikachu!" Galacteon called, "Where are you?!"

They walked through Saffron calling for the missing Pokémon to no avail. It was starting to get dark, and everyone was frustrated.

"Do you smell them, Flamie?" Jenny asked her Growlithe.

"Lithe," Growlithe shook his head.

"As much as I hate to say it," Jenny said, "We'll have to go in soon. We'll never find them at night, and we can't keep calling because we'll keep Saffron's citizens awake."

"I'm not giving up," Ash said firmly, "Pikachu! PIKACHU!"

"Come on," Jenny said, "Get some sleep at the Pokémon Center. We'll keep looking in the morning."

"PIKACHU!" Ash called, "PI PIKACHU PI_KA_!"

"He stay awake for the next week if he has to," Galacteon said.

"PIKACHU!" Ash screamed.

"Come on now," Jenny said, "or I'll place you under arrest for disturbing the peace!"

She reached for his arm, but he pulled away, still calling. She put more effort into grabbing him and slapped handcuffs on his wrist.

"PIKACHU!" Ash cried as Jenny dragged him toward the Pokémon Center. Galacteon followed without making a move to help either of them.

"Don't make me write you up for resisting arrest too," Jenny moaned. 

Right before he was dragged through the door of the Center, Ash screamed for Pikachu louder than he had all night.

* * *

"PIKACHU!" Pikachu heard.

"Pikapi…" he mumbled.

"Mmm…" Blaze moaned. Pikachu fluffed up some newspaper in the alley they'd taken shelter in and pushed him bitterly onto it before using the other side as his own bed. He hopped back up on fours and became instantly alert. There was a rumbling sound, and it wasn't anyone's stomach…. There was a slight vibration from below.

"CHAR!"

The ground exploded upward, sending Pikachu and Blaze airborne. Pikachu felt something close around him before his eyes straightened out.

"Pika!" Pikachu threatened to Arbok, attempting to wiggle out of the snake's vice-like jaws. He let loose a futile Thundershock. The metallic device lining Arbok's mouth absorbed the electricity and sent it to a light bulb duck-taped to his head.

"Growl!" Panicked, Blaze made a beeline for the street.

"Charbok!" Arbok cried, sounding muffled thanks to the Pikachu in his mouth. He coiled like a spring and leaped to block Blaze's route. As the little Puppy backed up in terror, he froze from the paralysis courtesy of Arbok's Glare attack. Arbok seized the immobile tyke in his tail and dived down the hole he'd appeared from.

* * *

"So who made this hole?" Cassidy asked, staring down a wider tunnel within a rickety warehouse.

"Arbok," Jesse replied simply.

"Your Arbok?"

"Yes."

"I hope you don't intend to send any of my Pokémon down that worthless pit."

"I do actually," Jesse grumbled mockingly, "If you don't go along with it, I'll let the boss know that you were the one to screw up the plan."

"What plan?" Cassidy snapped.

"We send my Arbok and your Drowzee down there," Jesse said, "It leaded to the kennels at police station, and Arbok just has to bust through the surface. The two of them go into the kennels. Arbok uses his Glare, and Drowzee uses Hypnosis. Once the all the Growlithe are paralyzed and unconscious, Arbok and Drowzee will push them down the hole where my Lickitung, your Vileplume, Flames's Charmeleon, and Butch's Wartortle will carry 'em back here."

"And the Chanseys?"

"Same plan," said Jesse, "but your Alazure will go with Arbok and Drowzee…. It _does_ know Sweet Scent, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Cassidy responded grumpily.

"We'll have Lickitung go too, for backup's sake," Jesse said, "Normal types like Chansey have a defense versus Psychic, so it'll help to have another Pokémon around to paralyze them. And Lickitung's better at paralyzing humans than Arbok."

"Humans?"

"We have to be careful of Nurse Joy," Jesse said, "Unlike Officer Jenny, she sleeps in the same building as her assistants."

"Ah," Cassidy nodded, "And when will this plan be carried out?"

"As soon as Arbok gets back."

"Char!" Arbok growled, bursting through the side of the tunnel and springing up to ground level near his master.

"Ka!" Pikachu cried. He failed at shocking Jesse.

"J—Butch!" Jesse called, "Get over here with Meowth's shock-proof cage!"

"How dare you order him around?!" Cassidy demanded.

"Shut up," Jesse said calmly as a cage came hurtling toward her from a nearby stack of wooden boxes. She caught the cage and screamed, "I said _bring_ it, not _throw_ it, you nitwit!"

"Bite me!" Butch yelled from the far side of the boxes.

Jesse growled as she opened the cage. Arbok dropped Pikachu inside, and escape was fruitless. Arbok took the rubber handle from his master and slithered over to a large empty kennel near the wall. The door had been left open, so he set Pikachu and the scared-stiff Growlithe inside it and closed the door. 

"Ready?" Flames asked as he approached Jesse and Cassidy.

"Prepare for Operation: Scrambled Flames!" Jesse smirked.

Flames, Cassidy, Butch, and the few insignificant Rocket grunts he arrived with, all sweatdropped. 

* * *

Galacteon stirred in the middle of the night. His stomach rumbled, so he crept away from Ash and toward the light at the end of a nearby hallway. Upon reaching the door, he saw Peenki tending Jenny's Growlithe Flamie. Apparently, Joy had suggested he stay the night to heal, but Peenki was blushing and seemed to be cooing over him a lot more than necessary.

Getting the gist of what he was seeing, Galacteon turned back and settled for a quick drink from the drinking fountain that should have been only for humans. He went back to Ash and half-laid on his chest.

* * * 

"Ahh!"

Ash snapped awake to the sound of a high-pitched scream and an unacknowledged thump that was caused by his sudden awakening dumping Galacteon onto the floor.

"Huh? Wha?" Galacteon asked.

"I heard something," Ash said, standing and looking around the Center's darkened lobby. It was completely abandoned and eerily silent. Ash said, "Come on, Pi…Come on, Galacteon."

Galacteon's ears drooped as he fell into step behind his trainer, following him down the shadowed corridor. He sniffed the air.

"Hey, what's that?" he asked, sounding entranced.

"Huh?" Ash asked, "What's what? That smell?"

Galacteon, quivering nose in the air, walked past Ash and continued down the hallway. Confused, Ash followed him into a room full of large baskets filled with a blanket and a pillow.

"I think this is where the Chansey's sleep," he noted.

Galacteon obliviously continued until his ears perked up and he became instantly more alert. Muffled complained and moans could be heard. He said, "That's Nurse Joy!" and dashed to the far corner of the dorm-like room into another hallway. Ash followed, and they came to a storage room just in time to spot a flash of red hair going down a hole in the center of the room. When they ran to the hole, its hostile contents shoved dirt in the way, blocking the path.

"What just happened?" Ash demanded, "Did Nurse Joy just get kidnapped?!"

"Probably," Galacteon said, "Chansey?!"

A few vocally-healthy patients sounded uselessly, but there were no Chansey sounds. 

"Let's go get Officer Jenny," Ash said.

* * *

Officer Jenny, currently finishing up her night shift, was asleep at her computer. She awoke with a start as Ash and Galacteon burst into the station. She stared at them blankly as they rattled off what they'd seen. She blinked when they were done.

"I'll get the Growlithes," Jenny said for lack of a better response. She left through the back door. A few minutes later, she came back looking extremely grumpy. As a way of explanation, she muttered, "They stole the Growlithes."

Ash sweatdropped.

"What about your Flamie?" Galacteon asked, "I think the Chanseys were stolen, but not the patients."

"Right, Flamie," Jenny said, dashing out the front door.

* * *

"Where would they take the Pokémon?" Ash asked.

"I don't even know who stole them," Jenny moaned as she stomped through the Center in search of Flamie. There was too much talking for Galacteon to point the way. They heard loud banging sounds and continued in that direction.

"I bet it was Team Rocket," Ash concluded as they reached the door to Flamie's room. Something was obviously slamming it from the inside. Jenny started to open it, but everyone just barely skid to the side as the door was blown to splinters by a star-shaped blast of flames.

Flamie stood in the doorway. His bandaged fur was bristled and held the appearance of the flames he'd just exhaled. His muscles were tensed as he breathed hard, growling and flicking flames between his bared teeth with each outward breath. His eyes were hard and shiny, reflecting insane anger and hatred.

"Flamie?" Jenny questioned. Flamie emitted a shockingly loud echoing howl before taking a step toward Jenny and keeping his frightful eyes on her. After a few seconds, she realized he was waiting for orders. Unnerved by his unexplained anger, she stuttered as she said, "They might be in the old warehouse down the stree—"

"Growl!" Flamie was instantly out of sight as he raced through the halls toward the door.

"Hey, wait!" Jenny called, running after.

When Jenny, Ash, and Galacteon reached Flamie, he was slamming through the poorly boarded wood of the warehouse door.

Twenty or more of Giovanni's nameless lackey's gaped for a split second before releasing two or three Pokémon each. Flamie's angry eyes flicked to the cage in the back, stuffed with Growlithes and Chanseys. He spotted Peenki and darted forward, plowing, slamming, and flaming through every human or Pokémon his way.

"Woah…he's tough," Galacteon said.

"No kidding," Ash said; he turned to Jenny, "You trained Flamie really well."

But Jenny was watching Flamie with her jaw hanging down. The Pokémon had Jesse's Arbok latched onto his back leg and Cassidy and Flames's Ninetails using Ember on him as he ignored Drowzee's Hypnosis and knocked it across the room with Take Down. He turned and Fire Blasted Ninetails, whipping him with the dizzy Arbok.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried as he spotted the Mouse Pokémon, "Go, everyone! Get Team Rocket!"

"Saur!" Bulbasaur cried, being the first out. He emitted four vines, seized four of the smaller opponents, and slammed them together.

"Growoooooo!" Flamie howled. Then the battle really began.

****

Chapter 44 (9)

It was Galacteon, Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charizard, Snorlax, and Flamie versus about fifty of Team Rocket's abused but strong and vicious Pokémon. It was a bloody war of brute strength that should have been easily decided, but Ash's Pokémon and Flamie held their own shockingly well considering their lack of numbers.

Even Ash and Jenny were physically fighting off the vicious creatures that attacked them. 

Galacteon stood atop a stack of boxes. He fired his Moonbeam attack at any Pokémon about to land a blow on one of his comrades. Squirtle was with him, using Water Gun on the rapidly burning wooden structure of the old building. Snorlax would corner a lot of smaller Pokémon before Body Slamming them.

Bulbasaur was the first to be recalled, as there were many Fire types that seemed to be blasting flames around at random. Charizard's strong tail knocked Pokémon around ruthlessly.

Most of the battle's gore seemed centered on Flamie. He was a force to be reckoned with, a burning bullet that shot through anything that dared to obstruct his path.

Each of the five-or-so minutes were stretched into a long violent millenium filled with burning blood. The landscape of flames seemed endless. One by one, the Rockets recalled their half-dead servants and practically crawled from the building.

Charizard was too weak after taking on Butch's Wartortle, which was defeated by Squirtle. From then on, the Tiny Turtle could do little more than weakly hack up foam. He and Charizard were returned. Galacteon knocked a wildly unruly Primape away from him and went limp as the burning base of his stack of boxes collapsed. He was recalled before he hit the flaming ground, and Snorlax was just plain out cold. 

Cassidy collapsed, leaving Butch to lift her and Alazure and flee to a safer area. As Jesse and Flames followed them, the latter released his strongest Pokémon, Charizard.

"RRROWWWRRR!" roared the Charizard. It was looking rather cocky because it's only opponent was a bruised, banged, and bloody Growlithe. A well-aimed swipe of its wing sent Flamie skidding over near the half-melted cage. Nurse Joy and Peenki, possibly the two healthiest creatures within it, were there by him.

"Growlithe growl," Flamie moaned to Peenki. He struggled to stand, but he fell back down. Peenki held his head up. Her egg glowed, followed by the rest of her. He glowed with her.

When they stopped glowing, he gave a whimper of thanks, stood, and turned back the Charizard, who seemed a bit miffed by the sudden recovery.

"Flamie, be careful!" Officer Jenny cried.

"GROOOW-LITHE!" Flamie howled, charging forward. He used his Take Down on Charizard's stomach. They both went skidding back ten feet. Flamie bounded back and did a few Tackles before Charizard successfully slashed him.

He was knocked back, and he jumped up just in time to avoid Charizard's Flamethrower. He jumped at the dragon, both of their flames colliding in his path.

"Flamie!" Jenny cried as her Growlithe disappeared within the mass of floating fire. There was a flash of white from within it, followed by a second more visible one from across the room.

"Rrrorr!" the surprised Charizard roared as the canine came through the fire and Tackled him, clamping his teeth in his neck as the last of his bandages turned to ashes and fell off. Flamie jumped back, only to slam again, and he moved as little more than a reddish and yellow blur. After several rapid attacks, he landed atop another stack of boxes and allowed everyone their first good look at him.

"Arcanine!" Jenny exclaimed.

"He evolved!" cried Ash, "Doesn't Growlithe need a Fire Stone?" He took out his PokéDex.

"PING! There is a controversial theory stating that all Pokémon with stone-induced evolution can evolve normally if the Pokémon's level is high and it is under extreme stress." Ash closed his PokéDex at that point rather than listen to a big essay on stone evolution. His eyes flicked to the back cage where he spotted a very large fluffy Chansey banging on the bars of the door.

Flamie shot a fruitless Fire Blast as the Charizard took flight in the crowded building. Fire truck sirens could be heard from outside. Flamie fire again. Nurse Joy and the captive Pokémon cringed as the blast hit near the door. Charizard landed and laughed at its opponent's inaccuracy, but Flamie grinned.

Nurse Joy cautiously touched the bars before she and Peenki shoved on the unmelted portion of the door. The nearly liquefied lock snapped. Charizard was hit from behind by Peenki's Double Edge.

"Is that…?" Ash wondered now that Peenki was closer.

"Blissey—the Happiness Pokémon," the PokéDex identified.

"Wow," Ash commented as Flamie and Peenki rallied together and attacked with Flamethrower and Egg Bomb.

"Charizard, return here!"

A bit more singed than before, the Charizard flew back to its master. Flames hopped onto its neck and grabbed Cassidy's wrist. She grabbed Butch by the collar as the Charizard barreled through the wall and escaped.

"SPLIT!" Jesse called to the others, who ran out through the hole. Most of them were caught by the police, so Jesse snatched up Meowth and had Arbok build a split-second underground escape route.

* * *

"Pi-pika!" Pikachu said happily as he and Blaze scarfed down apples within the safety of the Pokémon Center. Ash was leaning against the counter and watching Joy and Jenny bicker.

"Flamie and Peenki told me why they're always arguing," Galacteon said, "It's because Nurse Joy thinks Officer Jenny is too hard on her Growlithes."

"She trained Flamie well," Ash said, "but she seemed surprised by its power."

"He got his sudden burst of strength 'cause he's got a thing for Peenki."

"Okay," Ash said slowly. He looked from Joy and Jenny, to the newly appearing Blissey accompanying the freshly bandaged Arcanine, and back to Galacteon.

"They'll get along someday," Galacteon grinned hopefully.

Peenki hugged Flamie. 

~~~

A/N: Yeah, I know Growlithe/Arcanine and Chansey/Blissey aren't compatible breeding partners, but I thought this was cute anyway.

~~~


End file.
